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'I'm here to remember - all that I have been and all that I will never be again.' At the bar of a grand hotel in a small Irish town sits 84-year-old Maurice Hannigan. He's alone, as usual -though tonight is anything but. Pull up a stool and charge your glass, because Maurice is finally ready to tell his story. Over the course of this evening, he will raise five toasts to the five people who have meant the most to him. Through these stories - of unspoken joy and regret, a secret tragedy kept hidden, a fierce love that never found its voice - the life of one man will be powerfully and poignantly laid bare. Heart-breaking and heart-warming all at once, the voice of Maurice Hannigan will stay with you long after all is said. 'A hugely enjoyable, engrossing novel, a genuine page-turner.' Donal Ryan. 'Beautifully written, unhurried and thoughtful, and a character you love from the off' Kit de Waal. ISBN 9781473683020 -
The President has just returned from his summer holidays but Aras an Uachtarain just isn't the same without the President's cat. Luckily the good people of Ireland are ready to help him. From a Kerry fisherman to a hairy biker and a group of singing hippies, prepare to meet an array of wonderful characters on a funny adventure through some of Ireland's iconic landmarks. Will the President's cat find his way home? And, if he does, will the Aras have a cat among the pigeons? Great for Ages 0-6. ISBN 9780717184859 -
This collection of poems by Paula Meehan gathers together work published between 1991 and 2016 from collections that have been lauded, awarded and widely translated. Collections that have gained a large audience and a considerable reputation, nationally and internationally, by one of Ireland's foremost poets and most distinctive voices. A great deal has changed in the world in the arc of time covered by these poems, and those changes are noted and considered by poems that are remarkable for their clear-eyed witness. Meehan's devotion to, and mastery of, her craft, has always been one of the key signatures of her work, as has been her immersion in her beloved native Dublin. In her Selected Poems we see this and more - her uncompromising engagement with the politics of gender and class, her love of the natural world and her grief at what threatens it, her holistic and visionary impulse to bless the creation, and to be grateful for her place in it. ISBN 9781910251775 -
*50% OFF SALE TITLE - WAS €18.10, NOW €9.05* In 1979 Bridget Doyle has one goal left in life: for her family to produce the very first Irish pope. Fired up by John Paul II's appearance in Phoenix Park, she sprinkles Papal-blessed holy water on the marital bed of her son and daughter-in-law, and leaves them to get on with things. But nine months later her daughter-in-law dies in childbirth and Granny Doyle is left bringing up four grandchildren: five-year-old Peg, and baby triplets Damien, Rosie and John Paul. Thirty years later, it seems unlikely any of Granny Doyle's grandchildren are going to fulfil her hopes. Damien is trying to work up the courage to tell her that he's gay. Rosie is a dreamy blue-haired rebel who wants to save the planet and has little time for popes. And irrepressible John Paul is a chancer and a charmer and the undisputed apple of his Granny's eye - but he's not exactly what you'd call Pontiff material. None of the triplets have much contact with their big sister Peg, who lives over 3,000 miles away in New York City, and has been a forbidden topic of conversation ever since she ran away from home as a teenager. But that's about to change. Signed 1st Edition Hardback. Includes '1' in numerical sequence on title page. ISBN 9780008295394 -
Bestselling author of 'Room' Emma Donoghue returns with 'Akin' a brilliant tale of love, loss and family. Noah is only days away from his first trip back to Nice since he was a child when a social worker calls looking for a temporary home for Michael, his eleven-year-old great-nephew. Though he has never met the boy, he gets talked into taking him along to France. This odd couple, suffering from jet lag and culture shock, argue about everything from steak hach to screen time, and the trip is looking like a disaster. But as Michaels sharp eye and ease with tech help Noah unearth troubling details about their familys past, both come to grasp the risks that loved ones take for one another, and find they are more akin than they knew. Written with all the tenderness and psychological intensity that made 'Room' a huge bestseller, 'Akin' is a funny, heart-wrenching tale of an old man and a young boy who unpick their painful stories and embark on writing a new one together. ISBN 9781529019988 -
In the second book in The Wild Magic Trilogy, the queen and her raggedy witches have fled, but the kingdom is not yet healed. The castle is haunted by memories of its brutal past. The ghosts are angry, and one of them in particular possesses a magic which may be too much for even Mup and Mam to handle... "Ireland's answer to JK Rowling." Sunday Independent "A classic hero in the making." Parent Talk ISBN Great for Ages 9-12 9781406373929 -
I kept clear of Dog Cullen. Till the summer we turned seventeen, the summer the dolphin came to Carrig Cove . . . Donegal, 1976. When a dolphin takes up residence in Carrig Cove, Emer and her best friend, Fee, feel like they have an instant connection with it. Then Dog Cullen and his sidekick, Kit, turn up, and the four friends begin to sneak out at midnight to go down to the beach, daring each other to swim closer and closer to the creature . . . But the fame and fortune the dolphin brings to their small village builds resentment amongst their neighbours across the bay, and the summer days get longer and hotter . . . There is something wild and intense in the air. Love feels fierce, old hatreds fester, and suddenly everything feels worth fighting for. Great for Teens and Young Adults / ISBN 9780571355594 -
After signing up for the US army in the 1850s, aged barely seventeen, Thomas McNulty and his brother-in-arms, John Cole, fight in the Indian Wars and the Civil War. Having both fled terrible hardships, their days are now vivid and filled with wonder, despite the horrors they both see and are complicit in. Then when a young Indian girl crosses their path, the possibility of lasting happiness seems within reach, if only they can survive. ISBN 9780571340224 -
He is Ireland's most famous warrior, a legendary figure who has enchanted children for millennia. But who really was Fionn Mac Cumhaill? And what was he like when he was a child?In this wonderful, modern retelling of an ancient tale, based on a 12th-century manuscript, Ronan Moore brings young Fionn to life in a series of wild adventures. A cheeky kid, constantly trying to outsmart the adults around him, Fionn is on the run from his father's enemies who want him dead. Travel with him as he journeys throughout Ireland, evading capture, outwitting enemies, and training to become the greatest leader Ireland has ever known. Including the well-known myths of the Salmon of Knowledge and the Dragon of Tara, this book will appeal to all children as they follow Fionn's life up to the point of his becoming leader of the Fianna. Great for Ages 7-12 / ISBN 9780717185863 -
It is 1985, in an Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal and timber merchant, faces into his busiest season. As he does the rounds, he feels the past rising up to meet him - and encounters the complicit silences of a people controlled by the Church. ISBN 9780571368709 -
On a boat offshore, a fisherman guts a mackerel as he anxiously awaits a midnight rendezvous. Villagers, one by one, disappear into a sinkhole beneath a yew tree. A nameless girl is taped, bound and put on display in a countryside market. A man returning home following the death of his mother finds something disturbing among her personal effects. A dazzling and disquieting collection of stories, how to gut a fish places the bizarre beside the everyday and then elegantly and expertly blurs the lines. An exciting new Irish writer whose sharp and lyrical prose unsettles and astounds in equal measure, Sheila Armstrong s exquisitely provocative stories carve their way into your mind and take hold. 'Dark, devilishly well written and full of atmosphere, How to Gut a Fish is one of the most original and affecting short story collections I ve read in years' Jan Carson. 'In sumptuous and evocative prose, Sheila Armstrong writes stories that are unnerving and unsettling. Stories which make you go, wait, wait, what was that? ' Claire Fuller. ISBN 9781526635822 -
Learn about the life and times of Brian Boru in the second book in John & Fatti Burke's Little Library. Get ready to make your knowledge a bit bigger by learning all about the warrior king that was Brian Boru. Brian Boru grew up in a large warrior family over 1,000 years ago in Killaloe, Co Clare. One of twelve sons, Brian and his brothers practiced raids on other counties from the River Shannon. Eventually, Brian's army and navy grew to be so big that he became King of all Ireland. But up in Dublin, the Vikings were invading. So he gathered his men and went into battle ... Great for Ages 7-12. ISBN 9780717184569 -
Pollination is a very important part of the life cycle of plants. This title explores the role of bees in the pollination process. Readers will see that many of their favorite fruits, vegetables and plants depend on the hard work of bees. Full-colour illustrations with fun, rhyming text introduces young readers to bees, and the many fruits and vegetables they pollinate. Dolores Keaveney is a children's book author and illustrator living in Ireland. Great for Ages 0-6. ISBN 9781760360962 -
It's 1899, and fourteen-year-old Evelyn Wells has just won the opportunity of a lifetime: a scholarship to study music at an isolated and mysterious conservatoire. Evie leaves her family and moves to Dower Hall to begin her lessons with renowned maestro, Lionel Thorn. But all is not as it seems at the rambling old manor. Evie soon realises that Dower Hall harbours many dark secrets and some strange and threatening characters. There are secret doors at every turn, and a peculiar little harp seems to contain a dangerous kind of magic. Great for Ages 8-12 ISBN 9781788461436 -
Flann O'Brien's innovative metafictional work, whose unruly characters strike out their own paths in life to the frustration of their author, At Swim-Two-Birds is a brilliant impressionistic jumble of ideas, mythology and nonsense. Flann O'Brien's first novel tells the story of a young, indolent undergraduate, who lives with his curmudgeonly uncle in Dubin and spends far too much time drinking with his friends. When not drunk or in bed he likes to invent wild stories peoples with hilarious and unlikely characters - but somehow his creations won't do what he wants them to. A dazzling work of farce, satire, folklore and absurdity that gives full rein to its author's dancing intellect and Celtic wit, At Swim-Two-Birds is both a brilliant comic send-up of Irish literature and culture, and a portrayal of Dublin to compare with Joyce's Ulysses. Brian O Nuallain, (1911-1966), better known by his pseudonym Flann O'Brien, was born in Strabane, County Tyrone, and studied at University College Dublin before joining the Irish Civil Service. ISBN 9780141182681 -
The Glossie Influencer Awards are fast approaching and Ali Jones is hell-bent on a win and breaking through 10,000 followers on Instagram. But when Ali inadvertantly leads people to believe she's pregnant, she quickly realises that playing the 'Mummy-Influencer' card could be her ticket to Insta-success. And she's not going to let a small detail like a fake pregnancy get in her way. Even if the reappearance of Tinder Sam, who seems determined to take his role of 'baby' daddy seriously, makes things a little more complicated ... Elsewhere on Insta, Shelly Devine, Ireland's biggest influencer (and Ali's idol) is also guarding secrets from her followers, and her husband ... Both Ali and Shelly have decisions to make but as the night of the Glossies draws near, will they realise what's important before they lose what matters most? ISBN 9781529343397 -
For almost fifty years, Katie has kept a box of secrets. It dates from her time working as a nurse in a west of Ireland mother and baby home, and contains a notebook with details of the babies and young women she met there. It also holds many of the babies' identity bracelets. Following the death of her husband, Katie makes a decision she has long kept at bay. She posts a message on an internet forum, knowing that the information she possesses could help reunite adopted people with their birth mothers. Soon, the replies are rolling in, and Katie encounters success, failure, heartache and joy as she finds herself in the role of part-detective, part-counsellor - chasing down leads, piecing together stories, and returning many of the bracelets to their original owners. But there is one bracelet in the box that holds the key to a story that may never be told ... The Paper Bracelet is a gripping and moving story of secrets, lies and a love that never dies. ISBN 9781472264664 -
One night changes everything for Toby. He's always led a charmed life - until a brutal attack leaves him damaged and traumatised, unsure even of the person he used to be. He seeks refuge at his family's ancestral home, the Ivy House, filled with memories of wild-strawberry summers and teenage parties with his cousins. But not long after Toby's arrival, a discovery is made: a skull, tucked neatly inside the old wych elm in the garden. As detectives begin to close in, Toby is forced to examine everything he thought he knew about his family, his past, and himself. A spellbinding book from a novelist who takes crime writing and turns it inside out, The Wych Elm asks what we become, and what we're capable of, if we no longer know who we are. ISBN 9780241379530
