Published in 2005, Fontenoy is the third novel by the Irish novelist Liam Mac Cóil, and a winner of the Gradam Uí Shúilleabháin award in 2006. The novel centres on a box of printers' proofs in a Gaelic font recently found by the author in an archive in the French city of

Chartres Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as d ...

. The pages contain an account of the

Battle of Fontenoy The Battle of Fontenoy was a major engagement of the War of the Austrian Succession, fought on 11 May 1745 near Tournai in modern Belgium. A French army of 50,000 under Marshal Saxe defeated a Pragmatic Army of roughly the same size, led by th ...

, during the

Austrian War of Succession The War of the Austrian Succession () was a European conflict that took place between 1740 and 1748. Fought primarily in Central Europe, the Austrian Netherlands, Italy, the Atlantic and Mediterranean, related conflicts included King George's W ...

, written by a fictional Irish captain of the Irish Brigade, known as the Wild Geese. While on one hand, ''Fontenoy'' is a fictional account of the French victory told from the perspective of an Irishman serving in the army of King

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

of France, on the other hand it is a novel that explores perspectives in general, and in the writing of history in particular. In his review in ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'',

Alan Titley Alan Titley (born 28 June 1947, ) is an Irish-language novelist, translator, playwright and professor. He also wrote columns under the name Crobhingne. Early life Titley was born in Cork and educated at Coláiste Chríost Rí, St. Patrick's Co ...

praised the novel highly, singling out for special mention the author's artistry and clarity of style.

References

External links

Leabhar Breac website
2005 Irish novels Novels by Liam Mac Cóil Fiction set in 1745 Novels set in France Novels set in the 1740s {{2000s-hist-novel-stub