The Mountain of the Women: Memoirs of an Irish Troubadour
by Liam Clancy
List Price:
Our Price: $2.89
You Save: $22.06 (88%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Liam ClancyEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2002-02-19
ISBN: 0385502044
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Doubleday
Book Reviews of The Mountain of the Women: Memoirs of an Irish Troubadour
Book Review: A Wild Rover's Toast: "Joy Be With You All"
Summary: 4 Stars
In our household, we were "bread and buttered" listening to the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. The 33-1/3 rpm Columbia records were scratched and worn from overuse. We would play the records on family occasions and holidays. We would play favorite songs in the mornings during breakfast and as we made ready for school. In hindsight, I am surprised that the neighbors never complained or called the police.
Tommy Makem died last summer. The two eldest members of the quartet, Tom and Pat Clancy predeceased him. Liam Clancy is the sole surviving member of the recording group. This book is a sketchy and incomplete attempt at an autobiography, but it is as good as we are likely to get from this Clancy. Its strengths far outweigh its deficiencies. Readers should count themselves fortunate that Liam remembered anything at all after so many long nights and sexual misadventures. Perhaps, Tommy Makem, who abstained from drinking for most of his life, should have been taking notes for him (Makem wrote some wonderful essays, but I do not know if he ever published a full length book).
Liam Clancy was the youngest of eleven children. One of his problems when the recording group was formed in the USA was that his two much older brothers scarcely knew their youngest sibling at all. They had to introduce themselves to him when he arrived in New York. The Irish ballads and rebel songs (the Irish rebellions always seemed more successful in song than in reality) that the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem performed proved to be immensely popular. In addition the Irish diaspora, the authentic songs gained wide acceptance among fans of the Greenwich Village Folk Music scene. Liam Clancy became a fast friend of Bob Dylan.
There is a lovely story of how Clancy dropped his given Christian name while working as an actor in an Irish theatre company. A fellow actor chided him for answering to Willie, telling him that it was an "English" sounding name. He adopted the Gaelicized form and has been "Liam" ever since.
Pour yourself a drink and enjoy this book. Be thankful that the next generation of Clancy and Makem family members have taken up the songs that their fathers helped popularize internationally. Imagine how quiet our homes would have been if Clancy had kept up his father's plans and became an insurance agent!
Biographies & Memoirs Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Memories of Ireland
Yesterday?s Irelandby Paddy Linehan
David & Charles; Published: 2003-10-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $16.98
Price in other shops:
Ireland, a Bicycle and a Tin Whistleby David A. Wilson
McGill-Queen's University Press; Published: 1995-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.95
Price in other shops:
McCarthy's Bar: A Journey of Discovery In Irelandby Pete McCarthy
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2003-03-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops:
Through Irish Eyes: A Visual Companion to Angela McCourt's Irelandby Malachy McCourt
Smithmark Publishers; Published: 1998-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.89
Price in other shops:
The Fields of Athenry: A Journey through Irelandby James Charles Roy
Basic Books; Published: 2003-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.80
Price in other shops:
On Celtic Tides: One Man's Journey Around Ireland by Sea Kayakby Chris Duff
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2000-11-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
Round Ireland with a Fridgeby Tony Hawks
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2001-03-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
The Mountain of the Women: Memoirs of an Irish Troubadourby Liam Clancy
Doubleday; Published: 2002-02-19; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $99.95
The Pipes are Calling: Our Jaunts Through Irelandby Niall Williams, Christine Breen
Soho Press; Published: 2003-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.47
Speaking Volumes: A Dublin Childhoodby Edith Newman Devlin
Blackstaff Pr; Published: 2001-09-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.96
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
The Clancy Brothers - The Clancy Brothers - Greatest Irish HitsRelease date: 1995-12-01; Music CD
Best price: $3.22
Price in other shops:
The Clancy Brothers With Tommy Makem - In Person at Carnegie HallRelease date: 2008-02-01; Music CD
Best price: $2.85
Price in other shops:
The Pogues - Rum Sodomy & the LashRelease date: 2006-09-19; Music CD
Best price: $7.42
Price in other shops:
Liam Clancy - The Lark In The MorningRelease date: 1996-02-06; Music CD
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
The High Kings - The High KingsRelease date: 2008-02-26; Music CD
Best price: $12.72
Price in other shops:
The Clancy Brothers - Clancy Brothers - Greatest HitsRelease date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $11.95
Price in other shops:
The High KingsRelease date: 2008-02-26; DVD
Best price: $13.08
Price in other shops:
The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem - The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem In Person at Carnegie Hall- The Complete 1963 ConcertRelease date: 2009-03-03; Music CD
Best price: $11.35
Price in other shops:
Liam Clancy - Those Were the Days: The Essential Liam ClancyRelease date: 2007-02-05; Music CD
Best price: $22.79
Price in other shops:
The Clancy Brothers with Tommy Makem & Robbie O'Connell: The Men Behind the Sweatersby Conor Murray
Blackthorne Publishing, Ltd.; Published: 2006-03-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $22.95