“The Five-senses-world is a small island in a vast ocean of all we do not know and cannot see; in that ocean, there may be faeries.”

Critics hail The Faerie Circle as:

An Amazing Book

Timeless Tale by a Master Storyteller

A Perfect Book for Just About Everybody

This second story about the intrepid leprechaun, O’Shaughnessey, takes up where the first left off, that is, with Bobby Mahoney grown and with children of his own.

Having lost the ability to see leprechauns, as it happens to the best of us as we grow up, he takes a trip to Ireland with his daughter, to study folklore and get back something that he knows he’s lost if only he could put his finger on what that was.

Twelve year old Margaret McNeil Mahoney will have none of it.   She is, after all “the brightest pupil at the La Madeliene Academy for (Exceptional) young Ladies and has no room in her life for such silliness as leprechauns and faeries.

O’Shaughnessey has persuaded a reclusive Shenache (storyteller) named Moira McCarthy to take the visitors in, hoping that Bobby may eventually be able to see him again.

Moira McCarthy is “old-school,” as the jarvy who drives the pair to the hilltop farm describes her.  “You won’t find a drop of petrol on her farm… says it stinks of death and nothing that comes from that far in the bowels of the earth can be good for the Gentry.  The Gentry, that’s what we used to call the faeries, and Moira McCarthy has kept with it.”

Moira McCarthy is, in addition to being a Shenache, a guardian of the Invisible World.  Many there are who want to have commerce with the faeries and it is she who either allows it or sends them on their way depending on what their motives are.  She is suspicious of the visitors…until, that is, she is introduced to Margaret.  She recognizes in the young girl a kindred spirit with a latent Sight that is greater even than her father’s, for once having given up the Second Sight, it never comes back entirely.  But Margaret, the “little skeptic” Margaret, she has possibilities.

While Bobby is engaged in gathering folk tales in the town, Moira and Margaret tend to the farm.  Margaret quickly adapts to the hard work and the total lack of modern conveniences like running water, electric lights and television.  As time slows down, she is at first bored to death, and then intrigued as she begins to notice things that she had always been too distracted to see before.

All the while they are working, whether hoeing cabbages, gathering eggs, or washing laundry in a hand cranked machine fashioned from a whiskey barrel, Moira McCarthy entertains the girl from her stock of faerie stories.  Margaret is intrigued by the old woman who is constantly muttering prayers for everything from baking bread to making butter, and holds daily commerce, she says, with Maeve, the Faerie Queen for whom the McCarthy family has preserved a large area of woodland.

When Margaret expresses skepticism Moira laughs, “The Five-Senses-World is a small island in a vast ocean of all we cannot see and do not know.  In that ocean, there may be faeries.”

O’Shaughnessey, meanwhile, comes to Margaret in dreams and shows her “the world the way Moira McCarthy sees it.”  He takes her, as he did her father before her, into the land of Faerie. 

We find out more about O’Shaugnessey in this book, which is written for an older reader and is therefore longer and more complex.  O’Shaughnessey’s mission is to get humans to believe again, for, as he tells his friend O’Sullivan, “We need them to believe in us.”

Bobby, having been told not to step into a circle of mushrooms, does and is whisked away to the Court of the Faerie King, Finvarra, where he is kept as a husband for the princess.

Feeling abandoned, Margaret vents her anger and smashes one of Moira’s valuable hand-painted teapots.  Moira says, simply, “Well, when crockery comes to grief it’s not about what it’s about.”  Instead of getting angry, the old woman draws Margaret’s pain out of her.  But Moira has her own pain to deal with, the death eight years before of her dear husband and mentor, Liam McCarthy, whom she has yet to let go.  In sharing their pain, the old woman and the young girl forge a bond that will last a lifetime.

In another dream, O’Shaughnessey takes her into the faerie circle where they go to Finvarra’s court and she sees where her father is kept in a state of profound unconsciousness, so locked into the Five-Senses-World is he that his mind refuses to see what is around him.  When Finvarra discovers them, they fly out of the hill-fort in O’Shaughnessey’s hat and barely escape.  But, Finvarra is intriqued by the female human child.

Slowly, painfully, Margaret begins to realize that there is a possibility that it is as the old woman says and her father was taken to be with the faeries.  She can’t imagine her family without him, so entirely by faith in the possibility, she offers herself as a hostage if Finvarra will release her father.  She is taken by kelpies under the lake and Bobby Mahoney is returned, having regained the Sight, but at a cost that may be too much for either him or Moira to bear.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Reviews:

The Faerie Circle is an Amazing Book

I just finished the O'Shaughnessey The Faerie Circle and am sitting here with tears in my eyes and a real wish in my heart that the world Jeremy McGuire wrote about actually existed....This is by far one of the best books I've read in a long time and I don't say that lightly.

While this is technically a book for young adults (ages 9 through 15), I really enjoyed it. The book has 306 pages so it can easily appeal to older children and adults.  It's the story of Margaret McNeil Mahoney who is sent on a trip with her father Bobby Mahoney to Ireland who is off to study folklore for a book.

While in Ireland, they are staying with Moira McCarthy, an Irish storyteller who has ties to the faerie world.  She also lives in a cottage with no electricity, running water or modern conveniences like television.  Margaret prides herself on being rational and logical and has no time for daydreams or stories of faeries and leprechauns.

Her father had the sight as a child but has now lost it and part of him believes his memories were just dreams.  Wanting to get that connection back, he manages to get taken by the faeries and Margaret starts to believe some of Moira's stories may be more than stories.

This is truly an amazing book that I recommend to adults and children alike. If you're looking for a book to read for Saint Patrick's day, check this one out.  I plan on sharing this with both children provided they promise to give it back.  This is definitely a keeper!  Watch out for those faerie circles!

Ellen Christian

Timeless Tale by a Master Storyteller

The leprechaun, O’Shaughnessy was first introduced to the world in O’Shaughnessey: A Boy and His Leprechaun. But like all children, the boy in that first book grew up. In The Faerie Circle, Bobby Mahoney is grown and can no longer see leprechauns. The Faerie Circle is the story of Bobby’s twelve year old daughter, Margaret. Margaret is an old soul; she may only be twelve but she acts much wiser than her years. Can a trip to Ireland allow Bobby to get his Sight back? Will the Irish storyteller, Moira, be able to show Margaret that there is a magical world the logical one doesn’t know exists?

McGuire is a master storyteller and has woven the perfect tae of leprechauns, the faerie realm and the heart of Ireland’s mystical world. This is a magical book for young and old alike; a timeless tale to be passed down for generations. If you don’t believe in the “Invisible World”, read this book and you will become a believer! This book is the pot of gold at the end of O’Shaughnessey’s rainbow. Five out of five shamrocks!!

C. Carter Martina - CC Chronicles

A Perfect Book for Just About Everybody

I really enjoyed O'Shaughnessey as a light, whimsical read. The author truly has a knack for storytelling (I think he himself is a Shenache) and really paints the picture of a modern fairytale. Set in rural Ireland far away from the TV, Radio, and distracting Video Games, our heroine Margaret has no choice but to listen to the stories and take in her surroundings. And these stories are what breathe life into the fairytale (or is it just the faerie world).
This book has all the components of what make a story great and I was intrigued almost immediately by the beautiful cover. There is the paranormal element of faeries, leprechauns, nymphs and much more which in itself is exciting! But also there is the thought of just believing in something makes it real and I really like that! Also for those of you still not convinced there is an amazing twist to the story at the end (that brings the novel full circle) which I was surprised and delighted in!
I think this is a perfect book for just about everyone adults and kids alike. And it is so perfectly timed as St. Patrick’s Day and all things Irish are right around the corner! Hey you might even see your very own leprechaun if....you believe!
LOL=Lots Of Love

Rheanna - Try Reading My Mind

Comments on preliminary readings of The Faerie Circle

"The life lessons of the book are universal to both adults and children, written in an entertaining story that will appeal to all. While traveling in Ireland with her father (Bobby Mahoney from the first book), they share the home and lifestyle of the Shenache Moira McCarthy.  Moira is a colorful and artful character whose stories and belief in magical realms beyond the “five-senses world” helps Margaret see that life can be simple and enjoyable without all the modern technology.
This book is a page-turner as we become absorbed in Margaret’s transition to a simpler life and her introduction to magical lands and ideas. 
  She discovers the true meaning of what her life is all about and what is most important to her.

                                                                                          ---Marmie Matolek