I was delighted that my piece Boring pubs, jumpy legs, Midleton and Glen Rovers: A boy watches his first county final was picked by those lovely people at The42.ie as one of their Sportswriting of the Week choices – in some heady company. You can read the four selections here.
I’m delighted that my sports essay ‘Possession’ was published in the 2021 version of The Winter Papers. The Winter Papers is one of the highlights of the year in the world of Irish literature and it’s wonderful to be part of it. Thanks to Kevin Barry and Olivia Smith for this great honour. The Winter Papers is now on sale in all good bookshops or here.
The video of my interview with Julianne McKeigue of the Croke Park GAA Museum, marking the selection of The First Sunday in September as the Museum Book Club Book of the Month in their book club. I really enjoyed the chat with Julianne. You can watch the interview here.
I am very honoured that The First Sunday in September is the Croke Park GAA Museum’s Book Club Choice for October 2021. Each month the GAA Museum team choses a well-known GAA book to read and review and at the end of the month, the museum hosts a free online interview with the author, in which members can submit questions and comments. Personally it’s a lovely feeling that visitors to Croke Park have the opportunity to buy the book there, in the stadium around which the novel hinges. Three years after it’s publication it also brings new readers to the book, from all over Ireland and abroad, which is great. It’s also brilliant to be following in the footsteps of such amazing writers as Mary White, Christy O’Connor, Dave Hannigan, Michael Foley and Paul Rouse. And I’m sure that great books will feature in the GAA Museum Book Club in
I was delighted my essay on sport in Irish fiction was published in the Irish Times in October 2021. The piece describes the dearth of sport in Irish fiction but also how that has changed this year with books by Adrian Dunbar, Rónán Hession, Eimear Ryan and Paul Howard all featuring sport. You can read the article here.
I am delighted to be interviewing my friend Madeleine Darcy as an event for Irish Book Week in Bantry Bookshop and to mark Madeleine’s new book Liberty Terrace on October 21st. Such a treat. Thanks to Marney and Kate at Bantry Bookshop for hosting and Eimear O’Herlihy of West Cork Literary for facilitating.
I’m delighted to be part of Crime Writers Cork by Culture Night Cork County on September 17th, 2021. This is my first live event for some time due to Covid and promises to be very special. Myself and four other Cork crime writers: Michelle Dunne (While Nobody Is Watching & coming soon, The Invisible), Kevin Doyle (A River of Bodies & To Keep a Bird Singing), Catherine Kirwan (Darkest Truth and Cruel Deeds (2022)) and Amy Cronin (Blinding Lies & Twisted Truth) will be in conversations with well-known 96fm radio show host PJ Coogan. Booking and other details here.
Whatever It Takes, my second novel, is due for publication on the 31st of July, 2020, by the Mercier Press. It tells the story of Detective Garda Collins, who is based in Cork city. Collins is at war with the leading local criminal, Dominic Molloy (‘The Dom’). Unlike his colleagues, Collins is not willing to accept the human degradation caused by Molloy’s drugs, violence and prostitution. A famous former inter-county hurler, he hates to lose. He has made up his mind to bring Molloy down, but just how far is he willing to go to make that happen? What is he willing to do and what fall-out will ensue for himself and his garda colleagues?
What time should we hit the road on Sunday? The bloody road works in Naas still aren’t finished. Before we get to that, I’ve a bit of news. Oh. Is it the prostate again? The prostate is fine. It’s this: I love Kilkenny. Jesus, keep your voice down. What are you on about? I’m reading a brilliant book at the moment called Amateur. It’s by Thomas Page McBee and he’s a transgender man who took part in a boxing match in Madison Square Garden in 2015. In the very first chapter of the book, he describes the fight and his opponent. He writes: ‘The truth was, I loved him even as I danced around him with my hands in the air.’ The purity of revelation in that statement floored me.
This is my last post of 2018 and it’s been some year. My first book The First Sunday in September was published in August by The Mercier Press. I’ve been busy, finishing the editing process for the book and reading and writing as much as I could. Thanks to everyone who supported me, I’m so grateful. Thanks to everyone who read my blog over the year and special thanks to those who took the time to follow, like and comment on the posts. Not to mention those who bought my book and read it. Some who read it were even good enough to contact me with kind words. You have no idea how much that means. Onward and upwards to 2019. I’ve a draft of a crime novel on the go and I’m now working on a book of essays on sport. The next few months will see a lot
