Stranger Than Fiction: The Story of Eliza Lynch

After learning of one of Ireland's most colourful emigrants of all time I spoke to co-author of The Lives of Eliza Lynch: Scandal and Courage Dr Ronan Fanning upon the release of this engaging biography about the fascinating story of an Irish woman who was virtually unknown in her home country, but made a huge impression to this day in South America, and of the dramatic tale of how the book was written.

When former diplomat Michael Lillis was first regaled about the story of the fascinating but almost completely unknown in her home country Irish-born Eliza Lynch by the then Paraguayan President General Andrés Rodríguez while on a visit to the country, little did he know the following ten years or so would become something of a treasure hunt to find out the truth behind one of the most revered and loathed women in South American History. He was also unaware of how the process of researching and writing The Lives of Eliza Lynch: Scandal and Courage would become something of a gripping tale of its own accord.

The Greatest Story Ever Told

When Neil Hegarty was approached about writing the story of Ireland from the beginning of its history to the present time, he was faced with an intimidating task; which he made his own with aplomb. I spoke to the Derry born writer about this project, Story of Ireland, which was written to coincide with the BBC/RTE documentary of the same name.

 
Neil Hegarty is no stranger to being presented with expansive writing tasks. Before writing Story of Ireland, he was commissioned to write a history of Dublin. With both projects, his responsibility was to research every minute detail of what has made Dublin and Ireland what they are today and write lively and informative histories. No better man for the job.

Book Review: Crossfire: The Battle of the Four Courts, 1916

Crossfire: The Battle of the Four Courts, 1916
Paul O'Brien

With only two years to go to the centenary of the 1916 Rising, the shelves of bookshops are already packed to the brim full of a wide selection of titles about that momentous and defining week in Ireland's history.

Having already written two books on 1916 - and with more in the pipeline - Paul O'Brien's expertise on the period and fascination with it shines through in Crossfire: The Battle of the Four Courts, 1916. The first in a series of books about the rebellion called 1916 In Focus, Crossfire is an on-the-ground, nerve-wracking, detailed account of the rising in the Four Courts and its environs day by day from Easter Monday 1916, the day the Proclamation of the Irish Republic was read by Pádraig Pearse, to five days later when the order was given to cease fire.

Ghost Story - An Interview With Joseph O'Connor

The bestselling author of Star of the Sea and Redemption Falls Joseph O’Connor spoke me for AU at the Central Hotel in Dublin about the final part of his historical trilogy Ghost Light and how he came to be inspired to write the work of fiction based on one of Ireland’s legendary playwrights John Millington Synge and the woman he fell in love with.



Ghost Light is a tale of joy, sadness and love. Set in the early 20th century and jumping every few chapters to a single day in 1952, the novel is primarily a celebration of a little know love affair between one of Ireland’s best known playwrights J.M. Synge and an actress from the Liberties Molly Allgood. On this fateful day the reader is introduced to quite a sorry character of the faded actress whose glory days of her loves and career have passed her and, through her memories on this day, we are given a glimpse of this tempestuous, passionate and secret love affair she had with Synge.