Monthly Archives: October 2023

An Taoiseach Enda Kenny officially launched The Lightkeeper: A Memoir on June 4 at the Irish Lights headquarters in Dun Laoghaire. “A piece of social history,” was how Enda Kenny described what is perhaps one of the last accounts of the life of a lighthouse keeper.

Kevin O'Connor's biography of Harry Kernoff received considerable coverage on the review pages of last Saturday's The Irish Times. Reviewer Katrina Goldstone said that "... fans of Kernoff, old and new, will be delighted to see his work gathered in one place and in such a beautifully produced volume."

The Lightkeeper: A Memoir, by Gerald Butler and Patricia Ahern, was warmly praised by Gay Byrne recently on his Lyric FM radio programme, saying it was a "lovely read...you'll find it very enjoyable." Of the chapter on the 1979 Fastnet race tragedy he said that "the description in the book is just amazing". And in The Sunday Times, reviewer Alan Murdoch wrote: "Comprehensive and engaging, this timely account touches nostalgic nerves..."

Kevin O'Connor's excellent biography of Harry Kernoff received full page treatment in Saturday's Irish Independent. Reviewer Brian Lynch said that "what makes it a guaranteed stocking-filler for Christmas and of lasting value is the large number of colour and black and white reproductions of Kernoff's wonderful work".

The Lightkeeper: A Memoir, by Gerald Butler and Patricia Ahern, was featured in The Irish Examiner on Sunday, December 16. Ted Crosbie wrote that it was "an excellent memoir of way of life gone forever".

Stephen McWilliams' newly released book Fiction & Physicians continues to garner very good reviews. Dr Maurice Gueret in the Sunday Independent said that "The worlds of medicine and literature collide most happily in a book by a Dublin psychiatrist". And Dr Brian O'Shea in Psychiatry Professional says that "McWilliams writes fluently, covering a lot of ground entertainingly . . . giving us a book that will be the perfect Christmas present for literary medics".

The Literary Editor of The Irish Times, Fintan O'Toole, launched Mary Gallagher's blistering attack on higher education on November 20 at the Irish Writers Centre. Fintan called Academic Armageddon a courageous and timely book. An extract from the book will also appear in The Sunday Times on November 25.

Former Irish Times editor Conor Brady launched (pun intended) The Log of the Molly B before a packed house at the Davenport Hotel on November 14. Many of Pete Hogan's marvellous paintings from the book were on display as well. A painting from the book will also feature on the cover of the December issue of Books Ireland.

Pat Quigley's new book The Polish Irishman: The Life and Times of Count Casimir Markievicz received a very strong review in the Oct 7 edition of The Sunday Times. Reviewer Alan Murdoch called it "refreshingly readable" and said that it was a "fascinating biography".

Inside Irish Aid, by Ronan Murphy, received a lengthy review in last Saturday's Irish Times by Economics Editor Dan O'Brien, who said that it was "a four decade history that is informative and wide ranging . . . readable too".