The Master,

Bryan MacMahon is one of Ireland's finest writers. A Kerryman, he is also one of its most famous teachers. The world has beaten a path to Listowel to look at, and listen to, The Master.This book is an eloquent and colourful chronicle of a rich and happy life: it is the story of a man who loves literature and his fellow man and who has ever been a fighter for both.From the day when he took up a teaching post in his native Listowel he has shown himself as a dedicated and enlightened teacher, a short-story writer of international stature, and a public speaker of the rarest verve and vitality.He is also a man in love with language, not only English which he uses so magically, but also with Irish and indeed Shelta, the secret language of the travelling people, a knowledge which he uses to such effect in his play and novel The Honey Spike.In a telling phrase, Bryan MacMahon quotes the saying that "a teacher leaves the track of his teeth on a parish for three generations." There is no doubt that his work has been for the good not merely of his native area, but also of his pupils, his fellow teachers and readers everywhere.He is a rare national asset: this wise, witty and frank book will provide him with "a monument more lasting than bronze."