Writer Maurice O’Callaghan, born and raised in West Cork, has penned a novel about two families in his home town during the War of Independence and the Civil War, titled “In their dreams of Fire.”
The novel has not been officially released but it has already begun to garner international interest including from HBO.
O’Callaghan will travel to New York to visit with TV giant HBO to discuss filming the novel as a 12-part series for the 1916 centenary. The book will be launched nationally in the autumn but is already on sale in West Cork, reported the Examiner.
The book focuses on the battles of Kilmichael and Crossbarry up to the assassination of Michael Collins and the Ballyseedy Massacre of 1923.
"My mother’s parents didn’t approve of either the War of Independence or the Civil War but my mother did and she supported the Volunteers and fell in love with my father. He was very young, only 17 when he joined the IRA. He was possibly the youngest in the IRA at the time.
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In this his third book, which is 550 pages long and took four years to write, the author has captivated the vivid war experiences of his father and uncles and old family stories, and created an epic novel.
"It not only describes the great hardships attendant upon the birth of the Irish nation but demonstrates the fortitude of our people in time of great duress. In a way it is very relevant to the troubles afflicting the country at the moment because it shows how people endured and overcame hardship in the past."
The novel “In Their Dreams Of Fire” will be launched nationally by Michael D Higgins at the Mansion House, Dublin, on October 11. It will be available in hardback (€18.99) and paperback (€13.99).
4 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.Searlit | Aug 04, 2011, 07:42 PM EDT
Good. I wish the major networks would have something on like this, too.
fuiseog | Aug 02, 2011, 11:38 AM EDT
I meant to say; "did not tolerate any diveations..."
fuiseog | Aug 02, 2011, 11:31 AM EDT
I know that O'Callaghan's story is fictional and, I prefer novels which mantain a degree of historical accuracy, but to imply that the Irish Nation was born in 1916, is a reach. What existed in 1915? Were we not a defined people then? A people defined by an uieque culture, literature, language and traditions, older than any other nation in Europe? It may said that some did not acknowlege the humanity of our indigenous state. We were assailed for insisting on following our own independent way of human development and progress. It was our misfortune to live next door to a tyranny, which did tolerate any deviation from its self-styled hegenomy and illusions of supremecy.
CitizenWhy | Aug 02, 2011, 11:28 AM EDT
Interesting that he got his relatives to talk. I definitely will buy this book. ... I still have only the sketchiest details on my parents' attitude to the Ciivil War. I know the details of their deep involvement in the War of Independence but not the Civi War except to know that they supported Collins and pragmatically accepted the Free State but refused to take part in the Civil War, which led to the threat of murder against my father from the deValera side. He was warned of this threat by some of the men who served in his flying squad, who were horrified that their "rebel" side would go after him. My mother was already fed up with Ireland when Cosgrove executed the deValera supporters. This cruelty was too much, so she left, not for financial reasons but to live in a broader and more socially progressive society. The sketchy facts I have on their attitudes to the Civil War came only in recent years, from sources other than my parents (deceased). My parents emigrated in the 20s.