Corto Maltese in Ireland

Despite a measure of artitistic self-indulgence, I’ve actually come to enjoy Hugo Pratt’s books (some of them at least) but his representation of Ireland during the war of independence is amusingly uninformed. When his laconic anti-hero (the nautical Corto Maltese) ends up in Ireland, he meets the hilariously named ‘Banshee O’Danann’. I sometimes wonder whether… Read more »

Fionn: The Betrayal

Now that I’m back in the office, I’ve started work on ‘FIONN: The Betrayal‘ – the fifth book in the Fionn mac Cumhaill Series. At this stage, this is intended to be the second last book in the series. The current chapter one (these things tend to change) involves a conversation around a game of fidchell between Demne… Read more »

Re-release of an old Irish Classic

My first encounter with Reefer and the Model (Joe Comerford’s independent thriller and Ireland first arthouse ‘western’) was in 1989 when I moved to France. Moving around the city, I was surprised to discover several posters advertising an Irish comedy-thriller that consisted of an odd ‘line -up’ style photo displaying a priest, a bearded woman,… Read more »

Battle Scenes

An ‘early medieval batte scene’ from Polish artist Aleksander Karcz. As a general rule, I tend to avoid large scale battle scenes in my books, except where they’re the culmination of some important plot point or otherwise a necessary contribution to the story I’m writing. Fantasy entertainment has probably set a few unrealistic expectations when… Read more »

Excerpt from ‘Liath Luachra: The Great Wild’

There was one morning when the world dissolved, obliterated in a downpour that melted the distant islands, then the immediate surroundings as well. Preceded by a cluster of unusually threatening, blue-bruised clouds, the incoming deluge had given plenty of warning. As a result, the girl was comfortably settled under a solitary oak at the tip… Read more »

Changes in Creative Output

It’s been three years since I released the first official ‘Irish Imbas Catalogue’ (to much hoorah!) back in May 2020. One of the problems with catalogues, however, is that they really are a snapshot in time of creative work and output and, often, they don’t reflect creative or professional changes that have occurred over a… Read more »

Woe and Woe

Each year An Post runs a programme of special and commemorative stamps on behalf of the Irish Government. Deirdre of the Sorrows was part of the mythology series produced a few years ago and illustrates the legendary love story of Naoise and Deirdre and the jealous rage this caused in Conchubar mac Nessa. The story… Read more »

Irish ‘Mythology’ in Pictures

Oisín and Niamh galloping towards Tír na nÓg. Or is it? Is this an authentic reproduction of the classic Fenian tale or something else entirely? “How we picture Irish mythology” – the next in-depth post from Vóg (subscriber edition) on 30 April. You can find the ‘free’ and ‘paid’ sign-up to the newsletter HERE

Liath Luachra: The Great Wild Release

I’m currently behind on where I want to be with Liath Luachra: The Great Wild. At this stage, the draft is sitting at over 30,000 words and although I had planned to keep it around that length, the final product is looking more like 40-50,000 (in other words, it’s about 3-4/5 complete). This means that the… Read more »

The Irish Mythology Seekers

We had a bunch of foreign visitors arrive at our home in Cork last night.Being hospitable, we fed them at the kitchen table.As soon as they’d consumed what we’d offered, they got up and started rummaging through the cupboards, combing through our personal correspondence, pulling our belongings out and throwing them one side as they… Read more »

Cath Fionntrá – The Battle of Fionntrá

For those of you who aren’t aware, an updated version of An Seabhach’s “Cath Fionntrá” came out last year. The story concerns the King of France’s ire (clearly, this was pre-revolutionary France) when his wife and daughter run off with his guest Fionn Mac Cumhaill. Joining up for vengeance with Dáire Donn (the King of… Read more »

Doon … and Other Works

An Roinn Tithíochta, Rialtais Áitúil agus Oidhreachta (Ireland’s Office of Public Works and National Monuments Service), get a lot of bad stick online, usually from opinionated keyboard warriors who don’t understand the realities of managing a nationwide conservation programme. It’s nice, therefore, when they release a new project that helps to increase accessibility (and understanding)… Read more »