diff --git a/mockdriver/src/main/java/org/jaydebeapi/mockdriver/MockConnection.java b/mockdriver/src/main/java/org/jaydebeapi/mockdriver/MockConnection.java
index 2468344a..6cf0d8f9 100644
--- a/mockdriver/src/main/java/org/jaydebeapi/mockdriver/MockConnection.java
+++ b/mockdriver/src/main/java/org/jaydebeapi/mockdriver/MockConnection.java
@@ -360,6 +360,12 @@ public final void mockType(String sqlTypesName) throws SQLException {
         Mockito.when(mockResultSet.getObject(1, LocalDateTime.class)).thenReturn(localDateTime);
         Mockito.when(mockResultSet.getTimestamp(1)).thenReturn(timestamp);
         break;
+      case Types.ARRAY:
+        // ExplicitTypeMapper remaps ARRAY to VARCHAR (toString fallback).
+        // Mock getString() so the Arrow adapter can read the degraded value.
+        object = "{1,2,3}";
+        Mockito.when(mockResultSet.getString(1)).thenReturn((String) object);
+        break;
       default:
         object = "DummyObject";
         break;
diff --git a/test/test_hsqldb.py b/test/test_hsqldb.py
index 5968c861..8e6ca72d 100644
--- a/test/test_hsqldb.py
+++ b/test/test_hsqldb.py
@@ -62,3 +62,32 @@ def test_multiple_simultaneous_connections(self):
 
         for conn in connections:
             conn.close()
+
+
+class HsqldbArrayTypeTest(unittest.TestCase):
+    """Verify ARRAY type handling with HSQLDB (legacy issue baztian/jaydebeapi#159)."""
+
+    def setUp(self):
+        driver = 'org.hsqldb.jdbcDriver'
+        url = 'jdbc:hsqldb:mem:array_test'
+        self.conn = jaydebeapiarrow.connect(driver, url, ['SA', ''],
+                                            experimental={'jvm_args': _SUPPRESS_LOGGING_ARGS})
+
+    def tearDown(self):
+        self.conn.close()
+
+    def test_array_column_read(self):
+        """Verify ARRAY columns are readable as strings via ExplicitTypeMapper
+        VARCHAR fallback. Regression test for legacy issue baztian/jaydebeapi#159."""
+        with self.conn.cursor() as cursor:
+            cursor.execute("CREATE TABLE test_array_type (id INT, data INTEGER ARRAY)")
+            try:
+                cursor.execute(
+                    "INSERT INTO test_array_type (id, data) VALUES (1, ARRAY[1,2,3])"
+                )
+                cursor.execute("SELECT data FROM test_array_type WHERE id = 1")
+                result = cursor.fetchone()
+                self.assertIsInstance(result[0], str)
+                self.assertIs(cursor.description[0][1], jaydebeapiarrow.ARRAY)
+            finally:
+                cursor.execute("DROP TABLE IF EXISTS test_array_type")
diff --git a/test/test_mock.py b/test/test_mock.py
index e87ea152..1acd278f 100644
--- a/test/test_mock.py
+++ b/test/test_mock.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ def tearDown(self):
         self.conn.close()
 
     # JDBC types not supported by the Arrow data path (no Arrow type mapping)
-    _ARROW_UNSUPPORTED_TYPES = {'OTHER', 'NCLOB', 'SQLXML', 'ROWID', 'ARRAY',
+    _ARROW_UNSUPPORTED_TYPES = {'OTHER', 'NCLOB', 'SQLXML', 'ROWID',
                                 'TIME_WITH_TIMEZONE', 'TIMESTAMP_WITH_TIMEZONE'}
 
     def test_all_db_api_type_objects_have_valid_mapping(self):
@@ -1150,3 +1150,15 @@ def test_lastrowid_none_after_insert(self):
     def test_lastrowid_none_after_executemany(self):
         """lastrowid should be None after executemany (mock driver limitation: skip)."""
         self.skipTest("Mock driver executeBatch returns None; covered by integration test")
+
+    # --- ARRAY type tests (legacy issue #159) ---
+
+    def test_array_column_returns_string_via_varchar_fallback(self):
+        """ARRAY columns are degraded to VARCHAR by ExplicitTypeMapper and
+        returned as Python strings (toString representation)."""
+        self.conn.jconn.mockType("ARRAY")
+        with self.conn.cursor() as cursor:
+            cursor.execute("dummy stmt")
+            result = cursor.fetchone()
+        self.assertIsInstance(result[0], str)
+        self.assertEqual(result[0], "{1,2,3}")