Bartholomew Gill (1943–2002)
Author of The Death of A Joyce Scholar
About the Author
Mark McGarrity, who wrote mystery novels under the pseudonym Bartholomew Gill, was born in Massachusetts in 1943. He graduated from both Brown University and Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. He wrote seventeen murder mysteries and was an Edgar Award nominee. As a journalist, he wrote for the show more Newark Star Ledger. He lived in Dublin and Cranberry Lake, NJ. He died in 2002. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Disambiguation Notice:
Pen name for Mark McGarrity (1943-2002). Five novels were published under his own name. As Bartholomew Gill, he authored 17 Peter McGarr mysteries.
Series
Works by Bartholomew Gill
The Death of an Irish Lover: A Peter McGarr Mystery (Peter McGarr Mysteries) (2000) 125 copies, 7 reviews
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Gill, Bartholomew
- Legal name
- McGarrity, Mark
- Birthdate
- 1943-07-22
- Date of death
- 2002-07-05
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Trinity College, Dublin (M.Litt )
Brown University (BA|English Literature|1966) - Occupations
- novelist
journalist
bar manager - Organizations
- The Star-Ledger of Newark
- Short biography
- Pen name was taken from his maternal grandfather. As Mark McGarrity he was the outdoors columnist for The Star-Ledger of Newark (New Jersey, USA).
Bartholomew Gill is the pseudonym of Mark McGarrity, who was not only an Irishman himself, but also a graduate of Trinity College in Dublin. Mr. McGarrity was born in Massachusetts and graduated from Brown University as well as the Irish college, however. As a journalist, he wrote for the Newark Star Ledger here in the United States. As a novelist, he wrote seventeen murder mysteries, all featuring Detective Superintendent Peter McGarr, of which Death In Dublin was his latest and last. Batholomew Gill, aka Mark McGarrity, was also a nominee for the Edgar Award. Mr. McGarrity spent part of his life between Dublin, Ireland, and Cranberry Lake, New Jersey. - Cause of death
- a fall
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Holyoke, Massachusetts, USA
- Places of residence
- Holyoke, Massachusetts, USA
Providence, Rhode Island, USA
Dublin, Ireland
Siena, Italy
Niles, Ohio, USA
Cranberry Lake, New Jersey, USA - Place of death
- Morristown, New Jersey, USA
- Disambiguation notice
- Pen name for Mark McGarrity (1943-2002). Five novels were published under his own name. As Bartholomew Gill, he authored 17 Peter McGarr mysteries.
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
Bartholomew Gill created a most Irish detective in Peter McGarr, imbuing both McGarr and the setting with the charm of an Irish Bed and Breakfast. It leans a bit toward literary, but not so far that it ever becomes dull.
McGarr is Chief Inspector of Detectives, a position created solely to lure him away from Interpol. Before that McGarr had been with Criminal Justice in Paris and is somewhat revered in his home of Ireland. When a particularly young and beautiful Irish lass named May Quirk is show more found murdered with a pitchfork along the roadside, McGarr tackles a case involving the I.R.A. leading him to New York and back to Ireland to catch a killer.
Gill writes a complex mystery full of atmosphere for a beautiful country where some tawdry things take place. He shows the sympathetic nature of many in Ireland for the I.R.A. even though their methods are frowned upon. McGarr discovers that May Quirk only returned to her homeland to expose the organization's financial pipeline for her paper in New York, and might still be alive had she not.
The reader gets to know the detective a bit as the investigation unfolds. McGarr has a wife, Noreen, 21 years younger than him, for example, and a love for fine food and his country, Ireland. As he tries to get to the bottom of May Quirk's death an explosive attempt to remove him permanently from the investigation only serves to give the detective a steely resolve to find out whether it was love or politics at the bottom of May Quirk's death.
Gill subtly makes us feel Ireland throughout this entire mystery. Whether describing the lovely Irish countryside or coast, he perfectly captures the charm of a country where a friendly Irish pub is a social club, while at the same time showing us the political divide that exists. While I found this short series (due to the author's passing) varying in quality, Death of an Irish Lass is a good read with finely drawn characters, great atmosphere and just enough fun mixed in to make this an enjoyable read. show less
McGarr is Chief Inspector of Detectives, a position created solely to lure him away from Interpol. Before that McGarr had been with Criminal Justice in Paris and is somewhat revered in his home of Ireland. When a particularly young and beautiful Irish lass named May Quirk is show more found murdered with a pitchfork along the roadside, McGarr tackles a case involving the I.R.A. leading him to New York and back to Ireland to catch a killer.
Gill writes a complex mystery full of atmosphere for a beautiful country where some tawdry things take place. He shows the sympathetic nature of many in Ireland for the I.R.A. even though their methods are frowned upon. McGarr discovers that May Quirk only returned to her homeland to expose the organization's financial pipeline for her paper in New York, and might still be alive had she not.
The reader gets to know the detective a bit as the investigation unfolds. McGarr has a wife, Noreen, 21 years younger than him, for example, and a love for fine food and his country, Ireland. As he tries to get to the bottom of May Quirk's death an explosive attempt to remove him permanently from the investigation only serves to give the detective a steely resolve to find out whether it was love or politics at the bottom of May Quirk's death.
Gill subtly makes us feel Ireland throughout this entire mystery. Whether describing the lovely Irish countryside or coast, he perfectly captures the charm of a country where a friendly Irish pub is a social club, while at the same time showing us the political divide that exists. While I found this short series (due to the author's passing) varying in quality, Death of an Irish Lass is a good read with finely drawn characters, great atmosphere and just enough fun mixed in to make this an enjoyable read. show less
Peter McGarr has returned home to Ireland after spending time with Interpol. As the Chief Inspector of Detectives, his first case on home soil is the attempted murder of an American sailor who seems down on his luck. Who could have attempted to murder him and why? A simple question, but the answers are not so simple.
In the McGarr series we almost get two detectives for the price of one: Peter and his wife, Noreen, who takes a very active role in her husband's work. She'll drive them out to show more the scene of the crime and remain in the background while interviewing witnesses, serve as female chaperone if a woman is being interviewed, cook some extra dinner for the rest of the squad, and through it all move with poise and good humour. I'm not sure how realistic it is for her to be so involved in proceedings, but perhaps things were different when this story was set.
Of the two McGarrs I've read so far, I liked McGarr and the Cliffs of Moher better, mainly because of the setting. This one isn't bad; it just doesn't have the Cliffs! Nevertheless, the narration contains some moments of sly humour, there are high stakes for McGarr on the professional front, and the book itself is only about 200 pages, which is very economical for a mystery novel these days. On balance, I think I'll continue reading this series as and when I find installments. show less
In the McGarr series we almost get two detectives for the price of one: Peter and his wife, Noreen, who takes a very active role in her husband's work. She'll drive them out to show more the scene of the crime and remain in the background while interviewing witnesses, serve as female chaperone if a woman is being interviewed, cook some extra dinner for the rest of the squad, and through it all move with poise and good humour. I'm not sure how realistic it is for her to be so involved in proceedings, but perhaps things were different when this story was set.
Of the two McGarrs I've read so far, I liked McGarr and the Cliffs of Moher better, mainly because of the setting. This one isn't bad; it just doesn't have the Cliffs! Nevertheless, the narration contains some moments of sly humour, there are high stakes for McGarr on the professional front, and the book itself is only about 200 pages, which is very economical for a mystery novel these days. On balance, I think I'll continue reading this series as and when I find installments. show less
Chief Superintendent Peter McGarr is called to the scene of an odd murder: a young woman is found stabbed to death with a pitchfork in a pasture near the Cliffs of Moher. The woman, May Quirk, was originally from the area but left to pursue a career as a journalist in New York City. The story she was chasing turns out to have a major bearing on McGarr's investigation, which contains no shortage of suspects.
For me the setting was a major draw -- the Cliffs of Moher, County Clare, Galway and show more Dublin all feature in this book, and all of these places I have visited recently (including The Brazen Head, which makes a cameo appearance), so I enjoyed the return trip in fiction. But overall this was a very good book, with an interesting detective protagonist, a plot that had me continuing to turn the pages, and a few occasions for chuckling. I will be continuing to read this series. show less
For me the setting was a major draw -- the Cliffs of Moher, County Clare, Galway and show more Dublin all feature in this book, and all of these places I have visited recently (including The Brazen Head, which makes a cameo appearance), so I enjoyed the return trip in fiction. But overall this was a very good book, with an interesting detective protagonist, a plot that had me continuing to turn the pages, and a few occasions for chuckling. I will be continuing to read this series. show less
I am really liking Bartholomew Gill. The Peter McGarr series so far have all been excellent and this one is no exception.
Clement Ford, the man who controls a trust very beneficial to the inhabitants of an island off the Irish coast, but who lives very modestly, has been watching the sea for a quarter century, fearing that Angus Rehm and his past might have caught up to him. When Rehm does turn up, he secrets the information about the trust with a neighbor and plans to flee. Before he can, show more Rehm and his children arrive seeking vengeance, leaving several dead in his wake. Ford escapes and Rehm must now ferret out the secret even though the police are swarming over the island, especially given that one of the dead was a retired cop.
Gill does a wonderful job portraying the distrust of the old Irish for newcomers and those from the mainland, especially after the EU loan to Ireland that resulted, so the old-timers say, in the GUBU (Grotesque, Unbelievable, Bizarre, Unprecedented) corruption and scandals that resulted. “The likes of foreigners and scuts, like you. Yeh’ve ruined this country, this island, and now my son [the father of the dead cop is speaking to McGarr]. Frauds and gobshites [love that word] all of yiz. Mots, bowsies, and gurriers.” Lovely. show less
Clement Ford, the man who controls a trust very beneficial to the inhabitants of an island off the Irish coast, but who lives very modestly, has been watching the sea for a quarter century, fearing that Angus Rehm and his past might have caught up to him. When Rehm does turn up, he secrets the information about the trust with a neighbor and plans to flee. Before he can, show more Rehm and his children arrive seeking vengeance, leaving several dead in his wake. Ford escapes and Rehm must now ferret out the secret even though the police are swarming over the island, especially given that one of the dead was a retired cop.
Gill does a wonderful job portraying the distrust of the old Irish for newcomers and those from the mainland, especially after the EU loan to Ireland that resulted, so the old-timers say, in the GUBU (Grotesque, Unbelievable, Bizarre, Unprecedented) corruption and scandals that resulted. “The likes of foreigners and scuts, like you. Yeh’ve ruined this country, this island, and now my son [the father of the dead cop is speaking to McGarr]. Frauds and gobshites [love that word] all of yiz. Mots, bowsies, and gurriers.” Lovely. show less
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