Lead us into Temptation by Breandán Ó hEithir
Translated by the author
Breandán Ó hEithir, author and journalist was a native of the Aran Islands. His book Lead us not into Temptation is almost unique in
modern Irish literature as it is the modern classic Lig Sin I gCathú translated from the Irish by the author.
The book is set in the mythical city of “Ballycastle” during Easter 1949, the time of the declaration of the Irish Republic. The central
character is Martin Melody, a boozy university student, but Ó hEithir also peoples this comic romp with a colourful array of
stereotypical Irish characters.
For all his brilliance in other fields O hEithir was not in the first rank of modern Irish novelists. Nevertheless, I was glad to re-read
this book which pokes fun at many of our sacred cows . . . not the book to give your maiden aunt perhaps, but why not read it while
her back is turned!
Gearoid O’Brien,
Westmeath County Library.
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