IrishCentral Book of the Month: "An Irish Christmas Feast" by John B. Keane

"An Irish Christmas Feast" by John B. Keane is the December 2024 selection for the IrishCentral Book Club.

Each month, we will pick a new Irish book or a great book by an Irish author and celebrate the amazing ability of the Irish to tell a good story for the IrishCentral Book Club.

"An Irish Christmas Feast: The Best of John B. Keane" is a collection of more than 50 tales penned by the award-winning Irish author, largely inspired by his native Co Kerry.

First published in 2002, it is the last in a series of Keane's Christmas tales following "Irish Stories for Christmas" (1977), "Christmas Tales" (1993), "More Irish Stories for Christmas" (1996), "John B. Keane’s Christmas" (1997), "A Christmas Surprise" (1999), and "An Irish Christmas" (2000).

John B. Keane in 1990. (RollingNews.ie)

Synopsis of "An Irish Christmas Feast"

This bountiful, first-time-ever omnibus collection of more than 50 tales by one of Ireland's liveliest and most popular storywriters offers holiday charm, human idiosyncrasy, and Gaelic humor by the Christmas stockingful.

Drawing on the rich folk culture of Co Kerry, John B. Keane brings new life to old custom in his portrayals of the special holiday dreams and everyday shortcomings of not-so-ordinary country people during the Christmas season.

At the same time that he revels in the charms and eccentricities of the Irish, Keane also exposes the fallible souls that lie behind them.

With enough good cheer to warm the heart throughout the holiday season and the long nights of winter, Keane's congenial volume revisits the Christmases celebrated by characters like Dotie Tupper and Johnny Naile, the doughty Canon Doyle and deaf Canon Cornelius Coodle, the amiable spendthrift Aenias Mackson and Hiccups O'Reilly, who disappears one Christmas Eve for seven years.

Whether recounting "The Miracle of Ballybradawn," "The Great Christmas Raid at Balleybooley," or "The Order of MacMoolamawn," whether telling the tales of "The Magic Stoolin," "A Tasmanian Backhander," "The Fourth Wise Man," or the "Last Christmas Eve of the Twentieth Century," Keane bears delightful witness to the strengths and failings, the trials and triumphs, of the inhabitants in his eccentric corner of Co Kerry, Ireland.

Reviews for "An Irish Christmas Feast" by John B. Keane

"Corny, trite, and delightful: tales sure to delight anyone who has ever cried over a good rendition of 'Danny Boy' - or passed out at a Pogues concert." - Kirkus.

"Hilariously Irish, shrewdly accurate and richly creative." - Irish Times.

"Creates a charming emotional map of a fictitious but authentic-seeming place." - Boston Globe.

"John B.'s love of language was – and is – a joy to experience." - Brendan Kennelly.

About John B. Keane

John B. Keane, one of Ireland's most prolific and respected literary figures, died on May 30, 2002 at the age of 73, after a long and difficult battle with cancer.

Keane was born in 1928 in Listowel, Co Kerry and it was here that he spent his literary career, running a pub that provided him with inspiration for his characters and ideas.

His first play, "Sive," was presented by the Listowel Drama Group and won the All-Ireland Drama Festival in 1959. It was followed by another success, "Sharon's Grave," in 1960. "The Field" (1965) and "Big Maggie" (1969) are widely regarded as classics of the modern Irish stage and jewels in a crown that includes such popular hits as "Many Young Men of Twenty," "The Man from Clare," "Moll," "The Chastitute," and "The Year of the Hiker." His large canon of plays has been seen abroad in cities as far afield as Moscow and Los Angeles. "Big Maggie" ran on Broadway for over two months in 1982 and "The Field" was adapted into an Oscar-winning Hollywood film, starring Brenda Fricker and Richard Harris, in 1991.

But it was not just in his plays that John B. Keane managed to portray all aspects of humanity with both wit and truth. He also wrote many fine novels, including "The Contractors," "A High Meadow," and "Durango." "Durango" was adapted for the big screen, starring Brenda Fricker and Patrick Bergin.

A writer of essays, short stories, and letters, his humorous words live on in "Celebrated Letters of John B. Keane," "More Celebrated Letters," "The Best of John B. Keane," and "The Short Stories of John B. Keane."

In 1987, Keane received a special award for his enduring place in Irish life and letters from the Sunday Independent/Irish Life. In that year, he also won a Sunday Tribune Arts Award and in 1988 he was chosen as the recipient of the Irish-American Fund Award for Literature. In 1999, he was presented with a Gradam medal, the Abbey Theatre's highest award.

Keane was a member of Aosdana and the recipient of honorary doctorates from Trinity College, Dublin, Limerick University, and Marymount College, New York.

(Biographical information from Mercier Press.)