"[Passing the Time in Ballymenone is] an extraordinarily rich and rewarding book. It is about night and day, talk and work, man and nature, history and folklore, text and context, truth and order, art and culture, life and death, the ponderable and imponderable, but above all it is about the effort of one man to find for himself and us the life's breath of the people of Ballymenone. It is certainly a remarkable tour de force.Ó ÑEmmet Larkin, New York Times Book Review ÒA catalog of themes and topics . fails to reveal the glory of Passing the Time: it is one of the most remarkable pieces of literature of the twentieth century. As such, the book merits the attention of all readers who care about great writing and important ideas.Ó ÑWilbur Zelinsky, Geographical Review Passing the Time in Ballymenone is the result of a decade of research on the life and art, the folklore, history, and common work of a rural community in Northern Ireland. Winner of the Chicago Folklore Prize and the Haney Prize in the Social Sciences, Passing the Time in Ballymenone was named a notable book of the year by the New York Times.

It is a classic in the fullest sense, reaching beyond folklore to the wide world of humanity.