READ: The Raggy Boy Trilogy by Patrick Galvin

This three-part autobiography by the Irish poet and playwright Galvin is divided into:

Song for a Poor Boy, the story of his growing up in Cork until the age of 12. It’s filled with wonderful characters and magical stories as only the Irish can tell, of people who turn into birds, or never leave their houses, or simply wander the streets looking for something indescribable.

Song for a Raggy Boy, the story of Galvin’s life at a reformatory run by the Christian brothers, where cruelty is inflicted for the smallest infraction and only a lay teacher comes to the boy’s defense. This portion of the memoir was turned into a film with Adain Quinn as the teacher, and is much more explicit in its cruelty than the book.

Song for a Fly Boy, recounting Galvin’s time spent in the RAF during World War II. Lying about his age, he joined up at 16 and spent the war, not flying missions, but trapped by a bureaucracy that keeps him idle in Britain, East Africa and Palestine.

Currently out of print and not easily available at your local library, the trilogy is worth tracking down. The entire film version of Song for a Raggy Boy is available on YouTube.