Description

The Fatal Move by Conall Cearnach

Hardcover – Swan River Press – Apr 2021 – 105 pages

time. “Cearnach” was the pseudonym of F. W. O’Connell, a peculiar Protestant divine, linguist and Irish language scholar, oddball essayist, and early national broadcaster. His sole fiction collection showcases a wide scope: the conte cruel, the ghost story, the locked-room mystery, and the science-fictional satire. What unifies the stories is O’Connell’s playful, outward-looking perspective, inspired by his love of the diverse cultures and languages of the world and his home country in equal measure. A unique figure in Irish life, Cearnach’s character is perhaps more present in these stories than the anxieties of the time in which they were written. For this volume, Reggie Chamberlain-King provides an extensive introduction examining O’Connell’s life and works.

Contents

“F. W. O’Connell: Master of Strange Tongues”
Reggie Chamberlain-King

Stories
“The Fatal Move”
“The Vengeance of the Dead”
“The Fiend That Walks Behind”
“The Homing Bone”
“Professor Danvers’ Disappearance”
“The Rejuvenation of Ivan Smithovitch”

Selected Essays
“Dream Stuff”
“Sleeplessness”

“The Nervous Child”
“The Language of the Future”
“Plain Smith”
“Ptenanthropic War”
“Cuchulainn and America”
“The Irish Dante”
“Sources”
“Acknowledgements”