Feb 17, 2022
‘It has long legs and crooked thighs, a small head and no eyes.’ Paddy Faley looks directly at me, his eyes luminous, as I scratch my head and look increasingly confounded by his riddle. ‘The tongs for the fire!’ he says at length. ‘Another one … It has a...
Feb 17, 2022
‘My wife and I love your “Vanishing Ireland” publications…beautiful work’ – Christy Moore ‘I really recommend this book. It takes really personal stories of elderly people going through their life and times, beautifully displayed with...
Feb 10, 2022
While writing the fourth volume of the Vanishing Ireland series in 2013, I spent the bones of a week in County Kerry, happily ensconced in one of nine charming stone cottages overlooking Ballinskelligs Bay at Cill Rialaig. Threatened with demolition, this row of...
Feb 10, 2022
‘That was a fresh breeze last night,’ says Jimmy Murphy. This is something of an understatement. I’d been on Bolus Head for five nights and already survived three thunderstorms. The one to which Jimmy is referring, the most recent, was also the most powerful. The...
Feb 10, 2022
History is best understood by talking to those who took part in it. You don’t have to have lived an illustrious or bizarre life to have an opinion. You simply need to have lived and learned. There follows below a link to all the extended, footnoted interviews...
