This is a short book, filled with details of life in Donegal in the latter part of the 19th century. It requires a fairly good knowledge of the Irish language (or a lot of patience and a good dictionary) to get through it. The story concerns a boy and a girl growing up in the Gaeltacht in the Rosses..along the Donegal seacoast. The people are desperately poor so the boy goes off to make his fortune. The girl waits for him (and waits...and waits...and waits...) I dont want to give away too much of the story, but this book is a little treasure filled with pictures of life at that time and place. Highly recommended for anybody interested in Ireland and its history.

Séamus Ó Grianna, "Máire", writes marvellous irish and should be read all learners of the language, but at the same time he is not a very original story teller, which makes many of his books rather tiring reading for those who are no real aficionados. This one is a delightful exception. In his autobiographical, self-ironic depiction of a young boy's life in the Irish-speaking countryside, Séamus Ó Grianna has probably achieved more than in any other book of his. Warmly recommended.

"Cith is Dealán" was bu Niall Ó Donaill called the funniest collection of short stories by Séamus Ó Grianna. I am not very sure. In my opinion, it is not better or worse than the average, and as usually, it is the language that counts: it is great Irish for the learner, but no very original literature. Actually, I did like Cora Cinniúna better, because, in the midst of all those mediocrities, there were some strong stories. In Cith is Dealán, there might be one or two which have lasting literary value other than that of the beautiful Irish.