An Irish Country Doctor: A Novel

A very delightful book. Nice easy, enjoyable reading. It’s my book club choice for this month so it will be a lively discussion, I’m sure. I’d recommend this fun read, but I’m not sure I’ll read any of the sequels.

I bought this book because we are planning to go to Ireland this year, and I absolutely love them!! I ordered the print book for my aunt and now she's addicted as well! I have read them on my Kindle and listened to the audio books (love the accents!!).Lighthearted, warm, full of characters I want to be real people so I can meet them in person!

A great, enjoyable read with the drama and complications of a single doctor trying to care for an entire village. The story line reminded me of All Creatures Great and Small with a different population to care for. I frequently choose long books with involved plots. This series is just what I was looking for.

It's 1964, and Dr. Barry Laverty, the ink barely dry on his degree, takes a job out in the country with Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly. The old doctor's reputation precedes him as, when Barry asks for directions to the doctor's residence in Ballybucklebo the young man he's asking flees away on his bicycle. Dr. O'Reilly is a big man with a florid face, who's nose turns alabaster when his temper is up. His surgery (Office) is attached to his house on Main Street, and ran by the irascible Mrs. Kinky Kincaid. Kinky is a battleship of a woman, "large and in charge" one might say. She runs the household and schedules the patients with iron determination, and cooks up irresistible meals. The household also consists of a daft, beer-drinking black Labrador named Arthur Guiness, and most recently a saucy white cat named Lady Macbeth.Barry accepts the job as O'Reilly's assistant, and takes up residence in the attic room of the household. It was a time when country doctors still made house calls; a time when the degreed residents of the township (such as doctor, teacher, minister, priest, or town council) were looked up to as leaders of the community. Barry discovers his work with O'Reilly includes a lot more than simply treating physical complaints and ailments. There's the personal problems of the residents to look after, like old Maggie MacCorkle and her old beau Sonny who lives in his car since nasty Councilor Bertie Bishop hasn't finished his roof for twenty years. There's a young, unwed pregnant girl to whom O'Reilly promises things will turn out (much to Barry's chagrin); and the old doctor does his research on her to discover the best way to help. O'Reilly manages to show Barry that there's more to small town treatment than what comes out of a medical text.On a trip to Belfast, Barry makes the acquaintance of a young college girl named Patricia Spence, who limps from the residue of her childhood polio, and Barry falls madly in love with her. Balancing his time at the clinic, only two pairs of trousers that Arthur Guiness is intent on ruining, and his desire to see more of Patricia becomes a full time worry for young Barry. Does he have what it takes to survive the boisterous and quick-tempered O'Reilly, managing small town medicine, and unrequited love? You'll have to read the novel to find out."Quaint" and "Cozy" are the best words to describe 'An Irish Country Doctor'. There are three books in the series right now. I found myself reading the third book first, 'An Irish Country Christmas', and simply had to purchase the first two books. This beginning of the life and times of the village of Ballybucklebo and it's temperamental doctor is highly entertaining, and like me you'll find yourself wanting more. Despite it's laid-back country appeal, you'll find yourself unable to put down the book. While reading, I felt like I was a part of the community, deep in Ireland back in the 60's. Taylor's writing really involves the reader; you'll be entirely "sucked into" the atmosphere. His characters are fully fleshed out, real people you feel like you know, each with unique personalities and quirks. Following the story is a quick note with some recipes by Kinky Kincaid, and a glossary of terms for those who wish to know more of the language spoken in the book. I'm on to the second novel now, 'An Irish Country Village'. I highly recommend this book and the series. Enjoy!

Loved this book. I can't believe I never heard of this author. A very well written book full of Irish humor. Going to read the next book in the series.

The Irish doc Hollywood.Great characters And a sweet story. The gruff In tinder Country doctor and his young physician sidekick Make a great team. Looking forward to the next book.

Loved the story line but the cursing was beyond enough. Time was a bit mixed so confusing between rockets launching but yet tried to be an earlier era.

Although I had tagged this book MONTHS ago 📑 (which means I tagged the series) - I had decided that I would start reading whenever I had read my favorite author's books/series - AGAIN ! ( um ... make that again + again x 3.1416)After all, it's a difficult jump 😔 to go from reading "the best author in the world" ... OK that means MY world 😇 , to start (sigh...) another author who might need 2B tossed upon the pile of hundreds of lackluster books that I usually finish (cuz ... ya know, it MIGHT just be a gem when I get near the end)I dare put forth the opinion that U shall never think this author will be a waste of ur precious leisure.I read & listened simultaneously (a pleasurable combo) so I shall add that the speaker was a grand person to hv been chosen for this book 💌

Some things in this book seem very old world and they are. But it is a very charming book set in a country with quaint names and phrases. I enjoyed it

Nothing great

I purchased this book as a New Year's present for a friend of mine because I think it's an awesome book.It's the first of the Irish Country series, where Dr. Barry Laverty is a new medical graduate from Queen's University in Belfast, who is off to apply for his first medical job working with Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly in a small town call Ballybucklebo. The book is hilarious as you get to meet the colourful characters of the town, along with Mrs. Kincaid "Kinky", the housekeeper to Dr. O'Reilly who is originally from the area of County Cork.It is a book about small town life in Ireland in the summer of 1963, and where Dr. Laverty falls in love and gets his first taste of what life is like for a small town family doctor like Dr. O'Reilly, his mentor.There are five books in the series and if you like this one, I would highly recommend reading the others as well. They all take place in the summer and fall of 1963, and the last one takes place in the winter of 1964.

a pleasure to read, both entertaining and descriptive. Loveable characters, interesting reflection on medical challenges and practices of the recent past, and rural life in the last century. I needed the relief and distraction of a lighter read, and found this more delightful than expected

Story is about a small villgage and it could have been Hollywood or Bangor or their suburbs. Very believable episodes of the Dr. His patients,his mentor and his love life. At my age I feel it portrays life in the late 40's early 50's simpler times.that I grew up in.