Deposition of Father Mcgreevy - Softcover

The following article appeared in the "Irish Times" of Friday, Oct. 20, 2000: 'Fatwa'call against Booker author withdrawn by Anne Lucey.

Kerry councillor Mr. Michael Healy-Rae has withdrawn his call for a "fatwa" on the author of a novel which has been nominated for the Booker Prize. The novel, "The Deposition of Father McGreevy", by US-based Irish author Brian O'Doherty, is one of six books nominated for the prize to be awarded on November 7th.

Mr. Healy-Rae had said the book, based on life in a village near Dingle in the 1940's, should be banned and a "Muslim-style fatwa" issued on its author. The plot of the novel concerns a village in which all the women mysteriously die, leaving the priest, Fr. McGreevy, to cope with insoluble problems.

Mr. Healy-Rae, son of the independent TD, Mr. Jackie Healy-Rae, said the novel was all about "sheep, murder and madness" and did not give a true account of life in Kerry. "The Muslims put a fatwa on Salman Rushdie for insulting them, and I am calling for a fatwa on this guy," he told local newspaper "Kerry's Eye".

However, after a conversation with the author on Joe Duffy's Liveline programme on RTf Radio yesterday, Mr. Healy-Rae said he was willing to reconsider his fatwa call. "He seems like a nice fellow," he said of Mr. Doherty, who was also interviewed on Liveline. But mr. Healy-Rae reiterated his objections to the book itself. "Of course, this book should be banned." it depicted kerry farmers "as going around after sheep with their trousers down around their ankles, groaning and grunting behind bushes."

The Dingle Book shop has sold out all of its copies of the book since it was nominated for the Booker. The owner, Ms. Joanne Wilford, said while some people liked it, "local people are taking personal umbrage to the content. But people forget this is a work of fiction".

Brian O'Doherty was born in County Roscommon in 1934. His novels include The Strange Case of Mademoiselle P. (1992) and The Deposition of Father McGreevey (1999), which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize 2000. Also known as the conceptual and installation artist Patrick Ireland - he changed his name in reaction to the Bloody Sunday killings in Derry in 1972 - he has served as editor of Art in America and was the on-air art critic for NBC. Currently, he is professor of fine arts and media at the Southampton College campus of Long Island University. He is the author of numerous works of art criticism, including his book American Masters and the influential essay "Inside the White Cube." and American Masters: "The Voice and the Myth". He lives in New York City and Todi, Italy.