MemoirIs there any point in wondering if The Mother's Story, by Julia O'Donnell, would have seen the light of day were it not for her famous son? From a marketing point of view this type of "bandwagon book" is a low-risk venture - ready-made fan base equals ready-made sales.
Daniel's stamp is all over the book. The front cover boasts "A Story of Hardship and Love from the Mother of Daniel O'Donnell". And before we get to the first chapter there is a foreword from Daniel, followed by another from his sister Margo, also a well-known singer. In a way it's a shame, because take away Daniel and Margo and we are left with the story of a woman from a place and time which no longer exists except in the memories of those who survived it. This is also a social history of island life and a story of the hardships that people, particularly those in Donegal, had to endure in order to make the most basic of livings.
Julia O'Donnell really did have it rough. From Owey Island, off Donegal, she left school at 14 to join the hoards of Irish itinerant workers travelling all over Scotland picking spuds or pulling beet. Working conditions were often appalling, long hours left little time for leisure and even less to spend on it by the time the wages were sent home. Julia also put in her time as a fish gutter in Yarmouth, hands slashed and wounded. She was hardly more than a child at the time.
In 1947, Julia married her beloved Francie and within days he was off to Scotland to work on the farms and she was back in Yarmouth. They wouldn't see each other for months - a pattern that would continue throughout their married life.
This section of the book is by far the most interesting, vividly and simply told, often bringing to mind scenes from a Thomas Hardy novel.
Time moves on, children are born; Francie continues to come home for short periods before returning to Scotland to work other men's fields. On one of his visits home, Francie suddenly dies. He is 49 years old. We are never told the official cause of his death but it might do to call it "slavery".
Mrs O'Donnell now tells the story of her struggle to rear five children and how, in order to supplement her pension, she took to knitting Aran sweaters for the American market, staying up half the night, with "the needles dancing between her fingers".
As Julia's story moves into the final quarter the book begins to hone in on her youngest child and from then on when she's not praising Daniel, she's praising God.
The phenomenon of Daniel O'Donnell has never interested me, beyond a passing urge to toss his hair and spill drink all over him. Yet a funny thing happened on my way to the last chapter: I actually got to like him.
In a youth-obsessed world, he makes time for the older fan; indeed, he had to stop his famous "tea-days" because up to 1,000 old dears were turning up on the doorstep. One old dear who thought enough of him to give him an MBE was Queen Elizabeth - for his charity work and not his singing, I should add. When a group of Travellers were refused entry into one of his shows, he refused to go on stage until they were admitted. When his Mammy had reservations about his bride-to-be, he ignored them. He is, when all is said and done, his own man.
It has always been easy to poke fun at Daniel O'Donnell and in a sense his mother has probably now made it easier. Her doubts about his marriage are nothing short of hilarious - he was after all, a 41-year-old man.
Will Daniel's fans learn anything new about their beloved in this book? Not really. He will still come across as the non-smoking, non-drinking quintessential Mammy's boy, although in fairness this seems to come from the Mammy rather than the boy.
There are moments in this book that are more Craggy Island than Owey Island, and at times the constant references to God would drive you up the wall. For all that, Julia O'Donnell is never less than honest about her feelings. At 87, she's entitled to be. She has lived her life long and hard and has, with the help of ghost-writer Eddie Rowley, given us a quirky little memoir.
Christine Dwyer Hickey is a short story writer and novelist
The Mother's Story: A Memoir By Julia O'Donnell with Eddie Rowley Ebury Press, 317pp. £12.99