Sligo is such a beautiful place that it is not surprising it never leaves the soul of Eneas McNulty through all his long exile from his native land. Eneas, a survivor of WWI, returns to find little or no work in Ireland so he decides to join the Royal Irish Constabulary — a decision that marginalises him from his childhood friends and that ultimately drives him out of Ireland.

Sebastian Barry is a wonderful lyrical writer who touches on metaphysical themes and The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty is surely among his best books. Unbearably sad, when Eneas’s “songs and chattels” are reduced to nothing all that is left is bittersweet humanity.

Haunting, musical, profound.

The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty by Sebastian Barry
Picador, 1998.
ISBN: 978-0-571-23014-3