The Complete Fursey
An omnibus edition of The Unfortunate Fursey and The Return of Fursey.
This 1985 paperback by Mervyn Wall and published by Wolfhound Press includes two novels originally published separately by The Pilot Press, which were (1946) The Unfortunate Fursey; and (1948) The Return of Fursey.
The Complete Fursey promises Fursey fans and those yet to make his acquaintance an extended journey into the uproarious world of mediaeval Ireland with its population of rapacious devils, witches, vampires, bishops, and Vikings. For the lovable but ineffectual Fursey, life is a minefield. Helped and hindered by a ragbag of rogues, among them Father Furiousus who has a strange line in conversation, Gertie the extraordinary Sylph and the sanctimonious Bishop Flanagan, Fursey never quite manages to avoid the explosions.
The Unfortunate Fursey and its sequel The Return of Fursey established the gentle, self-effacing Brother Fursey as one of the great antiheroes of fiction and his creator Mervyn Wall as a writer of international renown. Wall's work has been compared with that of James Stephens, Kenneth Grahame and J. R. R. Tolkien.
Mervyn Wall
Mervyn Wall (1908–1997) was an Irish writer who was born in Dublin. He attended Belvedere College and worked as a civil servant. His wife, Frances Feehan, was a music critic.
Merwyn Wall published novels, short stories and plays, and wrote for a short-lived literary magazine, Ireland Today.
Fursey
Fursey consists of two primary books, and includes one additional book that complement the series but is not considered mandatory reads. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
