Seán Ó Sé – The Singing Teacher

© The Publisher

Full title: An Poc ar Buile: the life & Times of Seán Ó Sé

Creator / Author: Seán Ó Sé with Patricia Ahern

Item Type / Page count: Book / 196p [also available as an e-book]

When Published: 2015

Publisher / Place of Publication: The Collins Press / West Link Park, Doughcloyne, Wilton, Cork.

About: The Cork-born author, a teacher by profession, achieved fame as a singer with Séan Ó Riada and Ceoltóirí Chualann when he recorded the traditional Irish language song ‘An Poc ar Buile’. His singing spanned over 60 years and became for him a passport to world travel. He retired from teaching in 1993. This book is his life story.

ID number(s): 9781848892538

Chapters: Foreword – Prologue – A child of war and peace – Coláiste Íosagáin – St. Pat’s – Baltinglass – A time of sorrow – Warner’s Lane – The Red City – The singer – Séan Ó Riada and Ceoltóirí Chualann – A true friend – Farewell to Séan – Love and loss – St. Mary’s on the Hill – At home and abroad – The Sightseers – A battle with cancer – Back on track – The parting word – Acknowledgements – Index.

WW Connection #1: Seán Ó Sé commenced his teaching career in Baltinglass in West Wicklow and a short chapter of this book recalls this time in his life.

Extra #1: Includes dozens of monochrome and colour photographs.

Extra #2: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

Extra #3: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.

A Little Book of Ballyknockan

© The Author

Full title: My life as a stonecutter

Creator / Author: Andy Farrington [with contributions from Katie Byrne, John McEvoy, Jim Behan and Michael Freeman]

Item Type / Page count: Book / 68p

When Published: ca2016

Publisher / Place of Publication: [The Author] / Ballyknockan, Co. Wicklow

About: More than half of this nice little book is taken up with Andy Farrington’s account of a life spent as a stonecutter in Ballyknockan. The remainder of the book includes contributions from neighbours on the same topic and also looks at other aspects of Ballyknockan history.

ID number(s): None

Contents: Introduction – Growing up in Ballyknockan – My life as a stonecutter – The contributions of the quarry men to the Church — The Ballyknockan Brass & Reed Band — The next generation / John McEvoy — Giant granite stone 1890 — Neddy Cullen – Working in Osborne and Brady quarry / Jim Behan – Michael Freeman’s account of his life as a stonecutter / Michael Freeman — Turf cutting — Conclusion.

Extra #1: Includes thirty-seven photographs.

Extra #2: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

Extra #3: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.

Extra #4: View the entry for ‘Ballyknockan’ in the Placenames Database of Ireland.

Cooke Family Saga

© The Publisher

Full title: Mother in the Shadows

Creator / Author: Maureen Cooke

Item Type / Page count: Book / 177p

When Published: September 2003

Publisher / Place of Publication: Published for Maureen Cooke by Penfolk Publishing / 21 Ronley Street, Blackburn, Victoria 3130, Australia

About:  If this were a novel it would be a family saga. However, it is all true. The author writes about an orphanage, an adoption and a placement with a family that she seemed to belong to. She discovers in the end that her ties with them were closer than she could have imagined. The book tells the story of the Cooke Family and ranges across Scotland, Ireland, England and Australia. A second edition of this book was published in 2012.

ID number(s): 1875894330

Contents: Prologue – List of Illustrations – Acknowledgements and Thanks – Dedication –The Orphanage 1938-1941 – Journey to Leeds: 1941 – The Cooke Family – Adjusting – Jessie and Babs – Bannie and Helen – Bessie. Our Housekeeper – Boarding School 1941-1950 – Job after Job after Job – A Career Begins: 1957 – To Australia: 1960 – Independence – Marriage and a Family – Caring for Bannie – Revelation – Uncovering the Facts – Back to Childhood Haunts: 1988 – Returning again: 1955 – Reflections – Appendix: Maisie’s Account of her Life.

WW Connection #1: The Cooke Family had strong connections with Baltinglass and its Post Office. Helen Cooke was the de facto Postmistress when the infamous ‘Battle of Baltinglass’ incident occurred in the early 1950s.

Extra #1: Includes over two dozen photographs and a family tree.

Extra #2: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

Extra #3: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.

Extra #4: Link to the Publisher’s website at: http://www.penfolk.com.au/

In The Footsteps of Dean Swift

© The Publisher

Full title: Mark of Protest: an autobiography

Creator / Author: Victor Griffin

Item Type / Page count: Book / 235p

When Published: 1993

Publisher / Place of Publication: Gill & Macmillan Ltd. / Goldenbridge, Dublin 8.

About: This is the autobiography of The Very Reverend Victor Gilbert Benjamin Griffin, also known as Dean Victor Griffin. He is a Church of Ireland clergyman, who after spending over 20 years ministering in Derry, was appointed Dean of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. He held this position from 1969 to 1991 and became a well-known figure in Irish public life.

ID number(s): 0717118746

Chapters: Acknowledgements — Childhood — Farm — Living in a Minority Community — Kilkenny — Mountjoy — Trinity — Derry — Northern Divisions — Daphne — St. Patrick’s Cathedral — Appeal — Croke Park and Lansdowne Road — Visitors to St. Patrick’s – Dublin in Crisis – Inflammatory Words – Battling for Pluralism – Ecumenical Needs – The Protestant Perspective – Index.

WW Connection #1: Victor Griffin was born in Carnew in South West Wicklow in 1924.

Extra #1: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

Extra #2: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.

Extra #3: Includes eight pages of black & white photographs.

Extra #4: View the 1911 Census Return for the Griffins of Woolgreen Street, Carnew.

Hair, There and Everywhere

© The Publisher

Full title: Life is What You Make It

Creator / Author: Joe Fagan (1939-2021)

Item Type / Page count: Book / 192pp

When Published: 1987

Publisher / Place of Publication: Castle Books / Irchester, Northants, England.

About: The autobiography of Joey Fagan, one of the personalities of Baltinglass, who was, by turns, a religious brother, barber, meter-reader, encyclopedia salesman, ventriloquist, psychiatric nurse and barber again. The period covered by the book is from the early 1950’s to the early 1980’s. Joey Fagan died on 7th October, 2021. R.I.P

ID number(s): 0907877222

Contents: Life is what you make it — Going Away — School Day — Holidays — Entering the Noviciate – Sept.’57 — Simple Profession 25 March 1958 — The Simple Professed — Holidays, June 1959 — 1960 — The Big Decision – 1961 — The Final Days in Stillorgan — Returning Home – 1961 — Looking for a Job — My Father’s Death – 21 May 1961 — A Short Back & Sides — Coping with the Outside World — The Barber with Two Voices — Wedding Bells — Television — Publicity — No Barber — Making Ends Meet — World Book – Childcraft — Psychiatric Nurse – 1979 — New Image — Keeping Busy..

Extra #1: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

Extra #2: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.

Extra #3: Includes thirteen black and white photographs

IN MEMORIAM Joe Fagan R.I.P

Book Written About Man From Stratford on Slaney

© The Publisher

Full title: The Reminiscences of John Montgomery

Creator / Author: by John Montgomery (edited by A. Giffard)

Item Type / Page count: Book / 202p

When Published: 1981

Publisher / Place of Publication: A.A. Balkema (for Rhodes University Grahamstown) / Cape Town, South Africa

About: A recent internet searcher looking for ‘book written about man from Stratford on Slaney Co Wicklow’ visited our blog. We are presuming that the book in question is this one. John Montgomery came from Stratford and, while barely 17 years old, joined a party of Irish settlers who arrived in South Africa in May 1820. His was an adventurous life and these reminiscences cover 50 years of spectacular ups and downs.

ID number(s): 0869611240

Contents: Introduction: John Montgomery’s life and writings – Boyhood in Ireland – The voyage to the Cape – My first impressions – The Albany settlement – Graaff-Reinet and Craddock – My first trading trips – Frontier adventures – Trekking with the Boers – The founding of Burghersdorp – War with the Basuto – Trading in the Transvaal – The British Settlers’ Jubilee – Appendices: 1. Why Mr. J. Montomery ‘Threw up the Touw’ – 2. In memoriam John Montgomery – 3. Obituary of Mrs. J. Montgomery – 4. Montgomery children – 5. Viljoen’s hunting trip – 6. Story of Z. Wright.

Extra #1: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.

Extra #2: Contains twenty-one full-page illustrations, drawings and photographs.

Steps in a Dancer’s Life

© The Publisher

Full title: Step by step: the formation of an establishment

Creator / Author: Ninette de Valois

Item Type / Page count: Book / 204p

When Published: 1977

Publisher / Place of Publication: W. H. Allen & Co. Ltd. / 44 Hill Street, London W1X 8LB.

About: A collection of published and unpublished articles, essays and other writings all of which have ballet as their theme. The author was the founder of Britain’s Royal Ballet and spent over thirty years as its director.

ID number(s): 0491015984

Contents: Prologue – Introduction – [Phase I – The 1920s and the 1930s] The traveller: a pupil and her teachers — The formation of an establishment: Life at ‘the Wells’ — Lilian Baylis — Extracts from ‘Invitation to the ballet’  — A tribute to the Mercury Theatre — [Phase II – The 1940s and the 1950s] Five architects of the ballet: Constant Lambert, Frederick Ashton, Robert Helpmann, Margot Fonteyn, Sophie Fedorovitch — The Royal Charter: a memorandum — The English Ballet: a lecture to the Royal Society of Arts, 1957 — [Phase III – The 1960s and the 1970s] Gemini: two studies — John Cranko — Kenneth MacMillan — The stranger in our midst: a portrait of Nureyev — Choreography — Movements — [Impressions] A visit to Russia: 1957 — The Turkish State Ballet — Diaghilev — W. B. Yeats — What makes a dancer’s life — Epilogue — Index.

WW Connection #1: Ninette de Valois (née Edris Stannus) was born at Baltyboys, Blessington, Co.Wicklow in 1898. The family moved to England in 1905.

Extra #1: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

Extra #2: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.

Extra #3: Contains thirty-two pages of photographs.

Extra #4: For information, the author was awarded the Erasmus Prize in 1974 for her contribution to European culture.

Extra #5: Browse the 1901 Census entry for Ninette de Valois (née Edris Stannus) in Boystown Lower, Co.Wicklow

From Orphanage to Ordination

© The Publisher

Full title: That could never be: a memoir

Creator / Author: Kevin Dalton with Patrick Semple

Item Type / Page count: Book / 192p

When Published: 2003

Publisher / Place of Publication: Columba Press /55A Spruce Avenue, Stillorgan Industrial Park, Blackrock, Co. Dublin.

About: A memoir of the life of Kevin Dalton, who as a child spent fourteen years in orphanages. He had always wanted to be ordained as a Church of Ireland clergyman and book goes on to detail how that ambition came to be achieved.

ID number(s): 1856073939 / 9781856073936

Chapters: Beginnings (1932-1941) — The Havergal (1941-1949) — Another world (Christmas 1942) — Moyaliffe (1942-1949) — Hens and eggs (1949-1951) — The Harding  (1951-1954) — The Mill and The Flat (1952-1961) — Trinity (1961-1966) — The States (1966-1967) — Stillorgan (1967-1972) — Drumcondra, North Strand (1972-1979) — Monkstown (1979- ).

WW Connection #1: Co-author, Patrick Semple, was one time rector of Donaghmore and Donard Parish.

Extra #1: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

Extra #2: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.

Extra #3: Link to the co-author’s website:  http://www.patricksemple.ie/index.php

A Minister’s Life

© The Publisher

Full title: Believe it or not: a Memoir

Creator / Author: Patrick Semple

Item Type / Page count: Book / 180p

When Published: 2002

Publisher / Place of Publication: Columba Press / Dublin.

About: The first memoir of a Wexford-born former Church of Ireland clergyman who no longer believes the basic doctrines of the Christian faith.

ID number(s): 1856073548

Chapters: Wexford — No.4 National school — The King’s Hospital — All work and no play…  — TCD — Ordination — Belfast — St. John’s — Chicago — The Church of Ireland — Stradbally — The college and West Wicklow — Dublin again — Epilogue.

WW Connection #1: The author was one time rector of Donaghmore and Donard Parish.

Extra #1: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

Extra #2: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.

Extra #3: Link to Blog entry for the sequel to this item.

Extra #4: Link to the Author’s website http://www.patricksemple.ie/index.php

Minister For Sunny Weather

© The Publisher

Full title: The Rector Who Wouldn’t Pray For Rain: a Memoir

Creator / Author: Patrick Semple

Item Type / Page count: Book / 224p

When Published: 2007

Publisher / Place of Publication: Mercier Press / Douglas Village, Cork

About: A memoir of a Wexford-born former Church of Ireland clergyman who no longer believes the basic doctrines of the Christian faith.

ID number(s): 1856355608 / 9781856355605

Chapters: Preface — The town — Childhood — Boarding school — Vocation — University — The North — America — The Midlands — Adult education — West Wicklow — The chaplaincies — Looking on — The Church — Believe it or not — Epilogue.

WW Connection #1: The author was one time rector of Donaghmore and Donard Parish.

Extra #1: Check Libraries Ireland for this publication.

Extra #2: Check OCLC WorldCat.org for this publication in libraries worldwide.

Extra #3: Link to our Blog entry for the prequel to this item.

Extra #4: Link to the Author’s website: http://www.patricksemple.ie/index.php