Joseph Delaney used to be an English teacher, before becoming the best-selling author of the Spook's series, which has been published in 30 countries and sold over 4.5 million copies worldwide. The first book, The Spook's Apprentice, was adapted into a major motion picture starring Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore.

Joseph Delaney

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Joe Duffy

Joe Duffy takes the pulse of the Irish nation every day on Liveline. Whenever somebody wants to get something off their chest, the advice is often: “Talk to Joe”. 
Just Joe reveals the private man behind the public voice. Joe writes with raw honesty about his difficult upbringing in working-class Ballyfermot, with a hard-drinking father and hard-working mother, and about his younger brother Brendan, who has drink and drug problems and has spent time in prison. 
For Joe, education was key to a fresh start. He was one of the first from his area to attend university at Trinity College Dublin. His social justice campaigning led to him becoming President of the Union of Students in Ireland. He spent two weeks in Mountjoy Jail following a protest against government cutbacks. 
Joe eventually moved into a career in RTÉ Radio, where he first became known as a roving reporter on The Gay Byrne Show, before finally finding his niche on Liveline. Just Joe highlights the major stories and controversies raised by the programme; it also deals with the shocking death in 2010 of Joe’s friend and fellow broadcaster Gerry Ryan. 
This is a riveting, deeply felt and fascinating memoir of a complex, passionate man.

Just Joe

My Autobiography

Eamon Dillon

Irish Travellers have never enjoyed a higher profile, at home and abroad, for good reasons and bad. On the one hand are the positive stories like the success of boxers such as John Joe Nevin and Tyson Fury, the popularity of Big Fat Gypsy Wedding and Paddy Doherty’s victory on Celebrity Big Brother. On the other are controversial news stories such as the Dale Farm stand-off and the recent convictions for slavery. 
 
Gypsy Empire delves into the heart of Traveller life, focusing on three aspects that have coloured perceptions of Travellers among the wider community: family feuds, bare-knuckle fights and trading. Many Irish Travellers are driven by the need to prove their status among their own, a powerful instinct epitomised by those who engage in brutal bare-knuckle fights. These bouts are fuelled by family feuds which sometimes erupt in vicious acts of violence. We meet many colourful characters, among them some of the world’s most prolific and gifted criminals, their self-reliance providing an edge over other crime gangs. 
 
This is a golden era for the Traveller clans which are expanding and growing like never before. Gypsy Empire takes the reader inside the hidden world of Irish Travellers.

Gypsy Empire

Nicolas Roche

Nicolas Roche has a famous surname to all fans of cycling. The son of legendary Irish and World Champion Stephen Roche, Nicolas had to fight to make it as a professional and even harder to make his mark as his own man in this toughest of competitive sports. 
 
His rise up the ranks has been meteoric, with top 15 finishes in both the Tour de France and the Vuelta a España, but his attitude to his chosen profession has remained undimmed. Honest, eloquent and passionate about the cycling world, Nicolas gained acclaim and a devoted fan following for his Tour diaries serialised in the Irish Independent. 
 
Now a major contender for a podium finish in a grand tour, in the award-winning Inside the Peloton Nicolas tells in full the story of life as a professional cyclist and of the remarkable events that have brought him this far. From furious spats with teammates and exhilarating races against the world's best, this is a gripping cycling adventure and tale of a fiercely competitive sportsman.

Inside The Peloton

My Life as a Professional Cyclist

Aidan Storey

Growing up in the suburbs of Dublin, Aidan Storey was the youngest of seven, a much-loved, happy child who enjoyed family life and all the usual rough-and-tumble games he played with friends in his garden. The only difference was, when the friends left and the garden was quiet, Aidan was visited by Angels. Unafraid of the beautiful, luminous spirits who watched over him,it wasn't until much later that Aidan realized not everyone could see what he could see - and not everyone shared what was to prove to be an exceptional gift for healing. 
 
In this extraordinary autobiography, Aidan vividly recalls how the presence of angels sustained him through years of great turmoil - years when his happy, carefree world turned into one of misery and torment. As he recalls the sexual and mental abuse he suffered at the hands of two teachers in his Christian Brothers primary school, and the desperate, dark days of depression and isolation which followed, he tells of how the Angels helped him to claw his way back to life and, through the power of angelic healing, taught him how to bring light and love into his life and the lives of many others. 
 
Profoundly moving - and with a range of questions about issues such as death, relationships, the state of the planet, and many more, all answered by the Angels - this is an inspiring story of hope and forgiveness, and a testament to the healing power of Angels that will stay with you for ever.

Angels of Divine Light

Mary Black

For the last thirty years, singer Mary Black has been a dominant presence on the Irish music scene, an award-winning artist with many bestselling albums to her name. Now, in this long-awaited memoir, Mary takes us back to the roots of her musical heritage and to the influences that helped to shape her as an artist and a woman. 
 Born into a musical family, Mary Black – a feisty tomboy who could hold her own when it came to sparring with her brothers and anyone else brave enough to take her on – began singing folk songs from the age of ten. Music played an important role in the family home and, performing with her brothers and her sister Frances, Mary built her highly successful career on the bedrock of these early years. 
 From the pubs and clubs of her hometown, Dublin, she went on to perform in some of the most prestigious venues across the world. Always committed to exploring new material from the best writers, her unique talent attracted acclaim from critics, fellow artists and the public alike. It also led to a host of bestselling albums, including the multi-platinum No Frontiers, which spent more than a year in the Irish Top 30. 
 Mary’s love of singing was matched only by the love she had for her family. As she recalls the inevitable tensions that arose when trying to juggle family life and a high-profile career, she tells of her struggle to combine the two contrasting aspects of her life. It was only through gritty determination, hard work and a fair amount of laughter that Mary was able to enjoy major success as an artist and, at the same time, raise a close and loving family with her husband Joe. 
 Refreshingly honest, and written with warmth and humour, Down the Crooked Road offers a unique insight into the life and career of one of our most gifted singers – an artist who, during the course of her long career, has captured the hearts of millions around the world.

Down the Crooked Road

Albert Reynolds

Albert Reynolds has led an extraordinary life. Now, for the first time, Ireland's eighth Taoiseach tells his life story - from his childhood and first steps as a young businessman to his action-filled years in the political arena. 
 
In this revelatory autobiography, Albert tells how his dynamic, can-do approach allowed a boy from the village of Roosky, Co. Roscommon, to build a ballroom empire with his brother Jim, to found a multi-million-pound company and to make a profound and lasting contribution to Irish politics. 
 
Albert relives a busy political life, and the Northern Ireland peace process is thrown into dramatic relief with original contributions from other voices such as John Major, Bill Clinton, Martin McGuinness and Archbishop Eames, with eye-opening revelations about secret, behind-the-scenes meetings with key players. 
 
'Give it as it was; tell it as it is, that is me.' In his autobiography, he does just that.

Albert Reynolds: My Autobiography

Colm Cooper

'The greatest Gaelic footballer of all time.' Pat Spillane 
 
When Colm Cooper retired from inter-county football in 2017, he left behind a remarkable legacy. The holder of five All-Ireland medals and eight All-Stars, he was Kerry’s stand-out forward for fifteen years. From a family steeped in Gaelic football, and a core member of the Dr Crokes team, Colm was still in his teens when he first played for Kerry at senior level. Overcoming struggles with injury and personal tragedy, Cooper became one of the GAA’s most recognizable and best-loved figures at a time of tumultuous change in the game. 
 
But the man known nationally as ‘Gooch’ is also an intensely private figure who has never courted publicity and his personal story remains largely untold. Now Gooch – The Autobiography unlocks a previously unopened door, tracing a compelling path through the life beyond the headlines. This is the story of an ordinary man who became an extraordinary footballer.

Gooch - The Autobiography

Stanislaus Kennedy

Sister Stanislaus Kennedy, or Sister Stan as she is affectionately known, has been described as a visionary and social innovator. Now, in The Road Home she looks back on her life - from her early years growing up on the family farm in the Dingle Peninsula, Co. Kerry, to the day when, at the age of eighteen, she made the life-changing decision to become a nun. Inspired by the work of Mother Mary Aikenhead, who founded the Sisters of Charity in 1815, Stan went on to dedicate her life to the service of the poor and to fighting for a fairer, more equal society. 
 
Here, as she reflects on the many challenges she has met, both personal and political, she recalls how she was also inspired by her mentor, Bishop Peter Birch and how, under his guidance she helped to set up an innovative model of community care in Kilkenny - a model that was to become a blueprint for the rest of Ireland. 
 
Over the years Stan also developed into a formidable campaigner and worked tirelessly - sometimes against severe opposition - to establish other immensely influential human rights and social justice agencies, includingFocus Ireland, now the biggest national voluntary organisation for the homeless, Young Social Innovators, a national social justice education programme for young people, and The Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI), which supports the rights of migrants and their families and is a catalyst for public debate. In 2000, Stan also founded The Sanctuary - a meditation and spirituality centre in Dublin where, amidst the bustle of city life, people can experience peace, quiet, and the space to explore and develop their inner world. 
 
Inspiring and thought-provoking, this fascinating memoir provides a unique insight into the life and work of one of the most influential social activists of our day, the many political battles she has fought and won, and how, with dogged determination and courage, she has shaped the lives and the fortunes of thousands of people. Quite simply, The Road Home is the remarkable story of a remarkable woman.

The Road Home

My Journey

Peter Tyrrell

Diarmuid Whelan

I warn society against the child who has been hurt 
Peter Tyrrell 
 
A tormented childhood in Letterfrack industrial school with the Christian Brothers left an enduring mark on Peter Tyrrell. Ignored by the authorities and distressed by his memories, he later burned himself to death on Hampstead Heath in London. His story of horrific abuse is told with childlike simplicity, penned in a series of letters to Senator Owen Sheehy Skeffington. Bringing to life, with touching sincerity, a shocking reality where beatings of children as young as five were commonplace, this startling account may have gone unpublished if not for its chance discovery amongst Skeffington's papers. At last, Peter Tyrrell has been given a voice. 
 
Tyrrell never recovered from the abuse that he suffered, yet was determined that his story should be heard. His memoir makes for harrowing yet extraordinarily compelling reading. It is impossible not to be touched.

Founded on Fear

John O'Donohue

In The Four Elements, poet and philosopher John O'Donohue draws upon his Celtic heritage and the love of his native landscape, the west of Ireland, to weave together a tapestry of beautifully evoked images of nature. As John explores a range of themes relating to the way we live our lives today, he reveals how the energy and rhythm of the natural world - its innocence and creativity, its power and splendour - hold profound lessons for us all. 
 
With a foreword written by his beloved brother Pat, this illuminating treasury is a unique collection of reflections inspired by the ancient wisdom of this earth.

The Four Elements

Reflections on Nature

Donncha O'Callaghan

Donncha O'Callaghan is one of Ireland's leading international rugby players, and a stalwart of the Munster side. He was a key figure in the Irish team which won the IRB 6 Nations Grand Slam in 2009, and has won two Heineken Cup medals and two Magners League titles with Munster. 
 
But that success did not come easy. For such a well known player with a larger-than-life reputation, his long battle to make a breakthrough at the highest level is largely unknown. In this honest and revealing autobiography, Donncha talks in detail about the personal setbacks and disappointments at Munster and the unconventional ways he dealt with the frustration of not making the team for four of five years in his early 20s. 
 
He had a parallel experience with Ireland where it took him nearly six years to get from fringe squad member to established first choice player. Here he talks candidly about how he brought discipline to his game, and about his relationships with the coaches who had overlooked him and the second row rivals who had kept him on the bench. 
 
Donncha talks also with great warmth about a hectic childhood that was shaped by the death of his father when he was only six years old. One of the heroes of his story is his mother Marie who showed incredible strength and resourcefulness to rear a family of five on her own. 
 
Often deservedly regarded as 'the joker in the pack', what is often less well known is the serious attitude and intensely professional approach Donncha brings to his rugby. Joking Apart gives the full picture, showing sides of the man that will be unfamiliar to followers of Irish rugby and will surprise the reader.

Joking Apart

David Norris

David Norris is one of Ireland’s most popular, colourful and charismatic public figures. Not a man to shy away from controversy, he has spent most of his adult life challenging the establishment, whether as a leading campaigner for gay rights, a passionate conservationist, an unconventional academic and Joycean scholar, a brilliant raconteur, or, since 1987, a fiercely independent Senator and outspoken defender of human rights. 
 
Born in the Belgian Congo to an English father, who died when he was six years old, and an Irish mother, who died when he was twenty-one, David has been a Dubliner all his life, and the city of Ulysses remains one of his great passions. He spear-headed the revival of Georgian Dublin, particularly through his campaign to save North Great George’s Street, where he has lived for the last thirty-five years. 
 
But it is David Norris’s campaign to decriminalize homosexuality that will stand as his major legacy. Over a long sixteen years, he fought a difficult battle to overturn the Victorian law, finally winning a historic victory in the European Court of Human Rights in 1988. 
 
David’s decision to run for President of Ireland in 2011 was not lightly taken, but it proved to be the most bruising period of his life. His popularity and the public affection in which he is held saw him quickly established as the front-runner. However, a sustained and hostile media campaign forced him out of the race; although he re-entered it in the autumn, the momentum had been lost. In these pages, David Norris reveals for the first time the full, no-holds-barred story of his presidential campaign, and of how he recovered from the turmoil. 
 
A Kick Against the Pricks is a brilliant, deeply revealing autobiography, a remarkable journey from the margins to the centre of Irish society.

A Kick Against The Pricks

The Autobiography

Keith Duggan

Surfing in Ireland was once considered little more than a fringe and slightly lunatic pursuit. The treacherous coastline and ice waters of the Atlantic did not sit comfortably with the stereotype of surfing as the favoured pastime of the bronzed and privileged. But with the discovery in the past few years of the gargantuan Aileen’s wave at the Cliffs of Moher and other heavy waves, the Irish coast has become one of the worst kept secrets in world surfing. 
 
In Cliffs of Insanity, the Irish Times sportswriter Keith Duggan tells the story of a dedicated group of surfers in County Clare whose lives revolve around the pursuit of Ireland’s wildest waves. The book traces the evolution of Fergal Smith, the young Mayo man whose intuition for big waves has earned him a serious reputation and explores the world of Mickey Smith, the roving Cornish man who discovered Aileen’s and whose breathtaking surf photography has caught the Irish landscape in an entirely new and original light. 
 
Bitter cold days, broken bones, busted boards, scars, near drownings and countless hours in the freezing water trying to read the ocean is the price they pay for those few transcendent seconds when they master a wave. 
 
Cliffs of Insanity is about the importance of pursuing what matters in life but it is also about community and friendship, and the passionate pursuit of a way of life that flies in the face of everything championed in Ireland over the last decade.

Cliffs Of Insanity

A Winter On Ireland’s Big Waves

Liam Hayes

Kevin Heffernan was a giant amongst GAA men. 
 
A giant with a brilliant mind who repeatedly warned everybody that he would not let his own mother get in the way of him winning one more game of football. 
 
Heffo was deeply admired and absolutely feared like no other. And like no other manager in the history of the GAA, his strength of mind and brutal toughness as a leader raised an army that was called his own – Heffo’s Army. 
 
Heffo: A Brilliant Mind tells the Kevin Heffernan story for the first time. It’s the story of a boy with the biggest dreams, and a man who lived with triumphs and the greatest regrets. It’s the story of a club, and how Heffo and St Vincent’s GAA club revolutionized the game of Gaelic football and changed the face of Dublin football forever. 
 
It’s the story, too, of a great war. Heffo: A Brilliant Mind dramatically re-enacts the battles that Kevin Heffernan fought over four decades as a footballer and a manager in a long and punishing war with Kerry. A war waged by one man with the courage and fearlessness of a true giant.

Heffo - A Brilliant Mind

A Biography of Kevin Heffernan

Dermot Gilleece

Tales of golfing stars and memorable moments from Ireland's best-loved golf correspondent. 
 
In almost thirty years as Ireland's leading golf journalist, Dermot Gilleece has met and interviewed numerous heroes of the game. 
 
Join Dermot on the course as he looks back over many wonderful years of golf with the greats - from Jack Nicklaus' first game on Irish soil, to sympathetic accounts of the declining skills of iconic golfers such as Seve Ballesteros. Packed with stories and insights about legends from Gene Sarazen, Tom Watson and Tiger Woods to, of course, 'Himself', Christy O'Connor Snr, Touching Greatness offers highlights from Dermot's much-loved column in the Irish Times, as well as more recent observations on the game. There are unmissable insights into illustrious characters from the amateur game, women's golf, Irish involvement in major team competitions like the Ryder Cup, and the history of Irish golfers in the Open, including the double Open and PGA Champion, Padraig Harrington. 
 
At turns moving and funny, and always beautifully written, Dermot's tales bring you right onto the fairway as you soak up the very best stories from inside the world of competitive golf.

Touching Greatness

Memorable Encounters with Golfing Legends

Stephen Ferris

SHORTLISTED FOR RUGBY BOOK OF THE YEAR AT THE BRITISH SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 
 
'When I came into the Ulster team,' Stephen Ferris says with typical candour, 'we were crap'. It was, however, preferable to his day job of paving driveways, and that day in 2005 saw the start of an incredible journey for Ferris, Ulster and Ireland rugby. A Celtic League title in his very first senior season with Ulster. A Grand Slam in 2009, followed by a sensational Lions breakthrough. A starring role in Ireland's greatest World Cup win, over Australia in 2011, when Ferris famously picked up Will Genia and carried him ten yards. And leading Ulster from nowhere to the Heineken Cup final. 
 
Stephen Ferris had an incredible rugby career, tragically ended by ankle injuries so severe they will never properly heal. He is an inspiration to the population of Ulster, an emblem of the sport that serves as such a positive expression of its culture and identity, and earned the respect and admiration of fans across Ireland for his strength, pace, skill and courage. Fearless, funny and full of an incredible array of stories from behind the scenes of Ulster, Ireland and the Lions, this is the must-have rugby book of the year.

Man and Ball

Ronan O'Gara

Ronan O'Gara is one of the greatest sportsmen Ireland has ever produced. A brilliant kicker both from the hand and at penalty goals, a sublime orchestrator of play from the out-half position he has made his own, and a cool head in the pressure-cooker of club and international rugby, the list of the Cork man's achievements goes on and on. The leading points scorer in Irish rugby history, the Six Nations and the Heineken Cup. The architect of two amazing Munster triumphs in Europe. The man whose last minute drop-goal sensationally won the Grand Slam in 2009, Ireland's first for 61 years. 
 
In his candid, illuminating autobiography, O'Gara tells the story of those many on-field successes and, with brutal honesty, the darker days as well, most notably at the 2007 World Cup. He tells the inside story of Ireland's disappointments in France, and responds to the allegations about his personal life that made front-page news that autumn. Ronan O'Gara: My Autobiography is the unforgettable story of a rugby player at the top of his game, of a life lived to the full, and of a passionate and proud representative of the people of Cork and Ireland.

Brendan Cummins

Brendan Cummins has made more senior hurling championship appearances than any other player in the history of the game. In an era that produced such brilliant goalkeeping talents as Davy Fitzgerald, Donal Óg Cusack and Damien Fitzhenry, many would argue that Cummins has earned the right to be considered the greatest of them all. 
 
Following his League debut for Tipperary in November 1993, Cummins went on to play at the top of the intercounty game for 19 consecutive seasons. He won two senior All Ireland medals, five Munster championships, four League titles and five All Star awards. 
 
From fearless shot-stopping to pinpoint accuracy on his puck-outs, Cummins was unrivalled in the consistency of his performances, a consistency underpinned by a sometimes punishing physical commitment, mental discipline and great attention to detail. He was the rock upon which Tipperary built their team under many managers and changes of personnel. 
 
Brendan Cummins' story is the story of Tipperary hurling over the last two decades. The ups and downs. The dramas. The characters. From his senior championship debut in 1995 under Fr. Tom Fogarty to his final games under Eamon O’Shea, Cummins has seen it all. Standing My Ground is a remarkable account of an extraordinary career.

Standing My Ground

Cora Staunton

Cora Staunton is an iconic figure in the world of modern GAA. In this ground-breaking autobiography, she reveals her extraordinary journey from teenage rookie to the highest-scoring forward in the history of Ladies Gaelic Football. Since making her senior inter-county debut for Mayo at just thirteen years of age, Cora has become a feared and respected opponent on any pitch. 
 
Now, for the first time, she recounts the triumphs of her career and the personal struggles that have plagued it. In this refreshingly candid book, Cora recalls finding refuge in the game after the death of her mother, but also speaks openly about the challenges and conflicts she and her teammates have experienced in the under-resourced world of female sport. She gives a fascinating insight into her move to a professional team in Sydney and how she coped with going from a veteran to a newcomer overnight. 
 
In the first-ever autobiography of a female GAA star, Game Changer will take its place as one of the most influential and powerful sports books in recent years.

Game Changer

Ronan O'Gara has been at the heart of Munster and Irish rugby for the past fifteen years. Now, as he comes to the end of a glittering playing career, it is time for him to reflect on those many successes and occasional failures with the straight-talking attitude that has become his trademark. Never one to shy away from the truth, the result is Ronan O'Gara: Unguarded. 
 
Packed full of anecdotes and analysis of the teammates O'Gara has been proud to share the shirt with, and of the coaches he has played under - often in controversial circumstances - this is the definitive record of an era when Munster rose to triumph in Europe, and Ireland to win the Grand Slam, before crashing down to earth again. It is simply the must-have rugby book of the year.

Ronan O'Gara: Unguarded

Donal Lenihan

As player, manager, and pundit, Donal Lenihan has seen it all in the world of rugby - and done much of it too. A victorious captain of Munster Junior and Senior Schools, he went on to skipper the Ireland team at the inaugural Rugby World Cup in New Zealand in 1987 and was a fixture in the second row for over a decade, winning two Triple Crowns and three Five Nations championships. Selected for three British &amp; Irish Lions tours, he was famous for skippering the unbeaten side nicknamed 'Donal's Doughnuts', before taking charge of both Ireland and the Lions as manager. 
 
From such a stellar position at the heart of the rugby world, Donal Lenihan has a wealth of stories to tell from both on and off the pitch, from raucous antics on tour to the sometimes difficult fellowship of players in a time of Troubles. He delves deeply into Cork and Munster culture and the influence on his career of his family. And as a much-respected analyst, Donal is also not short on voicing his opinion on the rights and wrongs of the modern game, and how the transition from the amateur to the professional era has affected the heart and soul of rugby. 
 
Full of wit, insight and emotional sincerity, this is a rugby book for the ages by a sporting great.

My Life in Rugby

Anthony Daly

Anthony Daly was the most successful captain in the history of Clare hurling, leading the county to two All-Irelands and three Munster titles. Regarded as an inspirational figure by his fellow players, Daly’s innate leadership and character prompted the Clare players, just three years after he had finished his playing career, to pursue him as manager at the age of just 34. During his three years in charge, he took Clare to the cusp of two All-Ireland finals, agonisingly losing the 2005 and 2006 semi-finals to the eventual winners, Cork and Kilkenny. 
 
It was that kind of ambition and drive to succeed which attracted Dublin hurling to Daly. Taking over the county in 2009, he led Dublin, in 2011, to their first National League title in 72 years and, in 2013, their first Leinster title in 52 years, before he retired as manager in September 2014. 
 
Dalo takes us from the early days growing up in Clarecastle through the early part of his career with Clare, the golden years and the extension into management, punctuated with intense and revealing stories from the dressing-room. Interlaced with drama, tragedy, his love of other pursuits, and his immense wit, Anthony Daly’s autobiography offers a compelling insight into a unique personality in modern Irish sport.

Dalo: The Autobiography

David Delargy

Eugene O'Hagan

Martin O'Hagan

Known collectively as The Priests, Fr Martin, Fr Eugene and Fr David, have taken the music world by storm. Since they signed their much-reported Sony contract in front of Westminster Cathedral in April 2008, their album has sold almost 2,000,000 copies worldwide and broke the Guinness record for the fastest-selling debut classical album in the UK. It has also chalked up an impressive fifteen weeks at No. 1 on the Classic FM chart and was nominated for a Classical Brit Award. In June 2009, The Priests topped off their incredibly successful year with a highly-acclaimed mini-tour of the UK and Ireland. 
 
But long lunches in swanky restaurants and celebrity parties count for little with these down-to-earth, wonderfully talented singers, because first and foremost, David, Martin and Eugene are priests; their faith and the work they undertake in their busy parishes takes priority over everything else they do. So, whilst their gruelling promotional schedule for the album has taken them around the world - from Europe to Montreal and Toronto, from Washington to New York and Sydney, where they have played to packed houses and given dozens of press, radio and tv interviews - they have always been happy to return to their parishes in Belfast and the people they serve. 
 
Now in Soul Song, The Priests draw upon their unique experiences as priests and performers, their love of music and their faith, as they weave together a rich, illuminating tapestry of spiritual wisdom. Insightful and engaging, it is a treasury of memories which offers us all a rare and timely opportunity to reflect on our own journey through life.

Soul Song

Reflections On An Unexpected Journey by The Priests

Lar Corbett

For Tipperary hurling, defeat in the 2012 All-Ireland semi-final was heartbreaking. 
For Lar Corbett, it was devastating. 
 
Then again it has never been a straight road for the three-time All-star and 2010 ‘Player of the Year’. Deemed not good enough to play for Tipperary at minor level, he was nineteen before his unique talent was identified by Nicky English who gave Lar his chance in the All-Ireland winning squad of 2001. But this success was to be followed by years of despair as Tipperary hurling floundered, managers came and went, and a recurring hamstring condition left his career hanging in the balance. 
 
The turning point came in 2007 with the arrival of the ‘dream team’ of Liam Sheedy, Eamon O’Shea and Michael Ryan. Encouraged to play more freely and to exploit his explosive pace, Lar soon became one of the most lethal forwards in the game. His three-goal blitz against Kilkenny in the 2010 All Ireland final is the stuff of legend. 
 
Following defeat in the 2011 All-Ireland final, Lar stepped away from the game in February 2012 but was ultimately persuaded to return for the championship. Then came the disastrous semi-final where tactical changes kept Lar largely out of the game and provoked unprecedented criticism from media and fans alike. In All In My Head, Lar offers a unique insight into what happened on that day and over the turbulent year leading up to it. 
 
This honest and revealing autobiography is a must-read for all fans of the sport of hurling.

All In My Head

Paul Galvin

One of the greatest GAA footballers of the modern era, Paul Galvin has enjoyed a brilliant and at times controversial career. Winning four senior All Ireland medals with Kerry and eight Munster championships, he was also a three-time All Star and 2009 Footballer of the Year. His inter-county career took off in the late 1990s, when he picked up a Munster minor championship medal in 1997 and another at under-21 level in 1999. But it was in the senior team throughout the 2000s that Paul came into his own. In a period defined by great rivalry with Tyrone, he became a key playmaker for Kerry, never failing to give his all in pursuit of victory. 
 
 Over the course of a career marked by courage, physicality and an intense passion for the Green and Gold, there were many glorious days. There were other days too, with controversial incidents that led to a number of suspensions, most notably in 2008, the year in which Paul also had the honour of being the Kerry captain. 2009 brought redemption. But 2010 presented new challenges. 
 
 In this fiercely honest autobiography, Paul offers – in his own words – a compelling, unflinching account of a career that has fascinated football fans for over a decade.

In My Own Words

Conor O'Clery

History always comes down to the details. And when it comes to the fall of the Soviet Union, the details are crucial, especially when such an era-defining event hinged on the bitter personal relationship between two powerful men, Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin. 
 
On the twentieth anniversary of the end of the Cold War, Conor O'Clery has built his compelling and brilliantly constructed narrative of the fall of the Soviet Union around one day, December 25, 1991, the date Gorbachev resigned and the USSR was effectively consigned to history. From there, O'Clery looks back over the events of the previous six years: Gorbachev's reform policies of glasnost and perestroika; Yeltsin's ignominious fall and then rise to the top; the defiance of the once docile Soviet republics; the failed August coup by the hardliners; and the events that swiftly followed until a secret meeting in a central European forest sealed the fate of the communist monolith and the clock ticked down to the last day. 
 
The result is an intricately detailed, thoroughly researched book, based on interviews with many of the key figures in a drama of Shakespearean intensity as well as contemporary reportage, the memoirs and diaries of key political figures and official documents. The book is written at a breathtaking, dramatic pace, drawing the reader in as it focuses equally on the personal and historical stories. 
 
Moscow, December 25, 1991 is set to become a defining book on the fall of the Soviet Union.

Moscow, December 25, 1991

The Last Day Of The Soviet Union

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Interviews

Shadow and Bone’s Ben Barnes on tear-jerking books and what he’s reading

An image showing a selection of adventure stories for 9-12 year olds on a bright yellow background with orange doodles that include a hashtag, flag, danger sign and speech bubble

Children's reading lists

16 books for 9 to 12-year-olds that love adventures

An image of a selection of books for 9-12s on a blue background with a large splodge and striped print

24 must-read books for 9-12-year-olds

A picture of several different children's books on a pink to blue ombre background; each book has a bright yellow shadow

Showing results for: ‘joseph delaney’

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