A statue of the Virgin Mary starts to move, drawing thousands to the Irish village of Loughermore, but something far from divine is behind the miracles. The locality is sickened by a series of animal mutilations and horrific murders at the heart of which is an ancient and malign Entity—an Aes Sídhe. Can Mac learn to harness the magic of stone circles to defeat It before It gains physical form?
2. U. Cronin
Is minic cuma aingeal ar an
Diabhal féin
There is often the look of an
angel on the Devil himself –
old Irish expression
THE GROTTO
3. 160,000 words
450 pages
Supernatural suspense
Available through Amazon,
Smashwords, iTunes,
Barnes and Noble, Sony
and many other ebookshops
THE GROTTO
4. The Grotto in a Nutshell
A statue of the Virgin Mary in a Lourdes grotto outside a small
village in Ireland begins to move
Huge crowds flock to the village (Loughermore)
Strange things begin to happen around Loughermore
Animal mutilations
Abductions
Ritualistic murders
Readers learn that
An Entity inside the statue is behind everything
A group of men calling themselves ‘The Guardians’ has
come under the Entity’s control and are carrying out its
commands
5. The Grotto in a Nutshell
Mac and his friends discover what’s going on
They learn from the exiled Fr. Morrison:
The origin of the Entity
An aes sídhe of the Tuatha Dé Danann
How to combat the Entity using the magic from stone
circles
The Entity requires blood sacrifices to escape
from the statue and assume physical from
As The Guardians strive to provide the Entity with
human victims, an epic struggle between good
and evil ensues
6. Background – Moving Statue
Fever
Summer 1985
A statue of the Virgin
begins to move in
Ballinspittle, Co. Cork
This very soon becomes a
national and international
sensation
Later in the year the
phenomenon spreads all
around Ireland
Every town and village has
its own moving statue
7. Characters in The Grotto -
Goodies
Mac – The hero
Thirty-something environmental scientist
Sceptical, honourable, brave
O’Malley – Mac’s best friend
Loud, brash, big-hearted, incorrigible slagger
Rob and Katie – A couple, the other half of the
‘famous four’
Rob is the action hero, Katie the organiser
Sadhbh – Local girl that the ‘famous four’ befriend
in the course of investigation
Bubbly, funny, irreverent, fearless
8. More Goodies
Fr. Tola – Folklorist, wise man
Fr. Morrison – Mystic, demonologist,
antiquarian
Unique insight into moving statues and the
entities behind them
Teaches Mac and co. how to master the magic
of stone circles
Mossy McDonagh – Naturalist, Traveller
Resourceful, quick-witted
Supt. Fergal Gallagher – Police
superintendent for Macroom district
Rigorous, fair-minded, determined
9. Characters in The Grotto -
Baddies
The Guardians
Six men from Loughermore
Ostensibly pillars of the community
Led by the cruel and sinister Enda Bannon
Fall under the Entity’s control at a very early stage
Graduate from animal mutilations to human sacrifices
Kitty Boyle
Loughermore parish priest’s housekeeper
Pat Landy
Corrupt and disgraced former government minister
and MEP
10. Places in The Grotto
Loughermore
Fictitious village in
northwest Co. Cork,
Ireland
Pop. 3-400, a couple of
bars, a shop, a petrol
station
A large Lourdes grotto
just outside the village,
set into a hill
Macroom
Nearest big town to
Loughermore and
home of Sadhbh
Lively, picturesque
market town
11. Places in The Grotto
Ennis, Co. Clare,
Ireland
Home to Mac,
O’Malley, Rob
and Katie
Charming,
medieval town of
laneways and
pubs
Famed for its
traditional music
12. Places in The Grotto
Vitoria
Capital of the Spanish
Basque Country
Extensive medieval
quarter of winding
cobblestone streets,
ancient plazas, palaces
and chapels
Famed for its
gastronomy
Close to the Rioja
region
Home to Fr. Morrison
13. Places in The Grotto
Musheramore mountains
Dark, mysterious
mountains north of
Loughermore and
Macroom
It is here among its deep,
lonely woods that the
Guardians operate
Also here that Mac
stumbles into
Knocknakilla stone circle
and inadvertently learns
how to harness its magic
14. Stone Circles
Knocknakilla
Stone circle complex west
of Macroom
It is here where Mac
discovers he has the
power to channel stone
circles
Mendiluze
Sun-wheel stone circle in
province of Alava in
Basque country
Fr. Morrison teaches the
gang to channel here
15. Stone Circles
Reanerre
Well-preserved five-stone
ring between Millstreet and
Macroom
Carrigagulla
Set in an elbow of the
River Laney
Deep in the countryside
an Seisear
Six stone alignment
Legend says each stone is
a petrified wrong-doer
16. About the Author – U. Cronin
From Ennis, Co. Clare, Ireland
Now lives in Madrid, Spain
The Grotto is his first novel
Is currently working on his
second novel
Blog: http://ucronin.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/UPCronin
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/ultan.cronin
About me: http://about.me/ucronin