Book Reviews - At Home in Ireland by Mary Leland

At Home in Ireland by Mary Leland (Atrium, hardback, 290pp; colour photographs throughout; €30)

For over fifteen years from the mid-1990s, the Cork-born author and journalist, Mary Leland, had a loyal following for the erudite and beautifully written heritage and hospitality pieces she contributed weekly to The Irish Examiner - no easy task, as I know well, since her travels took her all over the country and the travel time alone must have been a considerable commitment.

It mounted up to an impressive body of work and merited a more permanent presence than publication in a newspaper, so the handsome hardback collection recently published by Atrium (an imprint of Cork University Press) is very welcome.

Mary is at pains to emphasise that it is not a guide and this supremely readable book is certainly much more than that; while not a lavish ‘coffee table’ production, it’s a book to be picked up whenever the mood is right - the perfect bedside companion.

Over a hundred houses and historic buildings and their owners are included, many of them familiar to me (which is always a joy) and others not (a tantalising introduction). Although slightly shorter, the entries are otherwise published as they were originally, with only footnotes to explain any major changes; they could be as recent as 2011 or go back to the mid ‘90s, so reading them can be a strange sensation. However, while not noted in the main body of text, the original dates are given in the list of Contents and, unless playing a game with yourself to see if you can guess, it is worth looking back to put each one in the context of its times.

The houses selected represent, as Mary says in her Preface, only a small minority of the total work of around 800 articles, which must be a sadness for her, and even some of those included or mentioned here have since closed their doors to guests. Glin Castle for example, although still a family home, was formerly a Blue Book property and has been closed since the Knight of Glin’s untimely death in 2011.

Even in Justin Green’s excellent Introduction, he refers not only to the wonderful family home Ballyvolane, which he and his family run very successfully as a Hidden Ireland country house and wedding venue, but also their delightful Lismore restaurant, O’Brien Chop House, which closed only last autumn.

But if these sadnesses highlight the ephemeral nature of things, that should encourage us to celebrate the survivors, as this book does so well - and, although not specifically a food book, Mary’s hospitality column began with restaurant reviews and there is much of interest to the food lover here.

Anyone with a love of Irish heritage and hospitality will find this book a rewarding and sometimes moving read.