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(This appeared in 10 Catholic Newspapers)
30th March, 1942.
"LITERARY CAVALCADE"
by
William J. Grace
and
John J. O'Connor
"Paddy the Cope"
Many readers will recall the charm and simplicity of "Twenty Years a' Growing" which was so well so well received a few years ago. Translated from the Gaelic, it told of the boyhood of Maurice Sullivan in the Aran Islands. Today we have with us another book, simply written in English, by the Irishman who brought Co-operatives to Ireland. It has all the charm, if not more, of "Twenty Years a' Growing" plus the wisdom and humor of age. "Paddy the Cope" is a story of Patrick Gallagher, the man who raised the Templecrone area in Ireland from the worst kind of poverty to rock-bed security through the medium of the cooperatives. His book is more than a message for America; it is a challenge.
Patrick Gallagher, known as Paddy the Cope throughout Eire, originally came from Cleendra up on the bleak coast of Donegal. Living was precarious, and the farmers and fishermen were always in debt to either the landlords, the merchants or both. As a result of the near-famine conditions in the area, the young people of all families went to England and Scotland for seasonal employment. It was when working on a farm in Scotland that Paddy Gallagher first heard of the co-operatives.
A few years later Paddy Gallagher incurred the enmity of all the merchants and landlords when he attempted the first cooperative in Ireland. He and his little group of farmers found all sorts of barriers, put in their way, from lack of credit in the village to arrests under false charges. But the Cooperative began to grow, ably defended by such men as the famous George Russell ('AE') and by its guide and friend, the Jesuit, Father Findlay.
Despite World War I, the Black and Tan troubles, and the depression, the cooperative thrived. Most of the area is now owned by the people who live on the land, their land. They work at the cooperative mill in the day or work their own trades or run their own mills. The management is in the hands of such men as Paddy Gallagher.
The autobiography is simply told and in its own fashion it is as interesting and infectious a book as you will find today. From the viewpoint of literature it is a fascinating work, ranking with some of the best work that Ireland has produced in this field.
Despite its excellence in the literary manner, the importance of the book lies elsewhere. This is a book for all Americans, for it tells of security based on justice, of private property won the hard way, of a struggle to get away from the arbitrary, of sacrifice, of achievement in as barren a land as you will find populated. It is an episode of group struggle and group cooperation against natural and man-made odds that for centuries seemed insurmountable.
There is no preaching here, no idle words or fine phrases. Paddy Gallagher quietly went ahead, acting intelligently, prudently, patiently - but acting, not talking. Gradually from the stony soil increased crops came forth; gradually a favourable cooperative fund built up; gradually quality and quantity of products.