Patrick Augustine Sheehan

Geoffrey Austin, Student Patrick Augustine Sheehan

Geoffrey Austin is a well-read and sharp young man who aspires to become a Catholic priest while staying true to his own nature and to God.

Curious and at times outspoken, Geoffrey's education is characterized by lively encounters on his travels through Europe. His sociability with other pupils in the seminary, make this work a lively adventure. The eccentricities of the tutors, and the clash between Catholic education and Geoffrey's own knowledge of classical literature, offer a recurring source of gentle humor. The author, himself a Irish Canon, imbues the text with semi-autobiographical references.

Later in the story, Geoffrey's study and acquisition of knowledge lead him to question the nature and purpose of existence. Fortunately, it is through faith in God and in his ability to communicate with his fellow man that the young man faces adulthood with courage. Religious texts also resonate in Geoffrey's mind, cementing his beliefs in the spiritual divine.

Patrick Sheehan ascended to literary celebrity late in life, with his fiction writings striking a favorable chord with readers in the early 20th century, who were unfamiliar with religious characters in modern times. Prior to gaining fame with stories, Canon Sheehan had mostly written essays pertinent to the church and to the education systems of Ireland and other countries.