Around the Boree Log

“Around the Boree Log” is a delightful book of verse written by the Irish-Australian Father Patrick Joseph Hartigan (under the penname “John O’Brien”). Hartigan writes in simple, accessible language about his own people, the profoundly Catholic community of Irish settlers in Australia. His love for them and their adopted country shines through in every line.

In this book, we rediscover a lost way of life – a way of life that was simple, human, full of fun and merriment and never far from the thought of God. Hartigan stresses the central role of the “little Irish mother” who had such a deep influence on her family and children and through them on society at large. Although his humorous pen doesn’t shy away from shining a light on some of the faults of his people, he always does so in a gentle, respectful way, and we sense that his sympathy is in no way tarnished by it.

This edition of the collection contains a poetic introduction in the style of Father Hartigan and includes the following much-loved poems, among others:

• Around the Boree Log
• The Trimmin’s of the Rosary
• Said Hanrahan
• Tangmalangaloo
• Down at Casey’s after Mass
• Vale, Father Pat
• The Church upon the Hill
• The Old Mass Shandrydan
• A Stranger in the Church