Pagan voices

If spirits hover on this earth, then those of pagan Ireland do not escape Joe McGowan's alert, attentive eye. "Pagan Voices" is a ramble through an Ireland on the verge of extinction.

Unfolded here are the beliefs of ordinary people, their superstitions, customs and way of life.

This book is a familiar ramble through a cherished place bringing life to an ancient countryside and a disappearing era.

It puts flesh on history, mythology and creed. The author, Joe Mc Gowan, looks at the customs and practices, the joys and the sorrows of country people with the clear penetrating gaze of a man who has been there and is one with them.

Growing up in the Ireland of the 1940s and 1950s, Joe writes from an intimate knowledge of his subject.

His point of view is that of a man and boy who, like Patrick Kavanagh, is formed of the soil about which he writes.

He prizes visits to the older men and women of the countryside and listens to their stories.

Keenly aware of the dramatic changes taking place in rural Ireland, Joe decided many years ago to record this unique lore. The book will appeal to all people interested in a way of life just gone, and why we still practice and believe in some of the customs and superstitions of our ancestors.