Happy St. Patrick's Day!
I don't have a drop of Irish blood myself, but I'm reliably informed that everybody's Irish on St. Patrick's Day! So, in celebration of the day, here are a few of the Irish characters who have appeared in Diana Gabaldon's books.
1) Aloysius O'Shaughnessy Murphy. Ship's cook aboard the Artemis, in VOYAGER. He makes a truly memorable (or should we say infamous?) turtle soup! <g>
2) Stephen Bonnet. One of Diana's most memorable villains. I think Brianna gave him a more merciful death than he deserved.
3) Jeffries, the Dunsanys' coachman in VOYAGER. Besides Jamie, and Lord and Lady Dunsany, he's the only other eyewitness to the death of the Eighth Earl of Ellesmere. I wonder if we'll see him again in a future book?
4) Seamus Hanlon. One of the musicians who played at Jocasta and Duncan's wedding in FIERY CROSS. Despite his very brief appearance in the story (chapter 41, "Music Hath Charms"), he seemed to have a genuine appreciation for Roger's musical talents.
5) The O'Higgins brothers, Rafe and Mick, who helped to smuggle Percy Wainwright out of prison near the end of BOTB. They played only a relatively minor role in that book, but I thought they were pretty entertaining.
6) Father Donahue, the priest who baptizes Germain, Jemmy, and Joan in FIERY CROSS. He seemed a very pragmatic, adaptable sort of person, perfectly willing to baptize the children with whisky instead of water if that was the only option available. (And IMHO he gets extra points for managing to keep a straight face while listening to Jamie's confession involving Claire and the butter churn. <g>)
Have a wonderful St. Patrick's Day, everybody!
I hadn't given much thought to Jeffries coming back into the picture, but I also was surprised to see Willie Coulter again in Echo. Who knows....