Nenagh bookshop honours local writer

The Nenagh Bookshop has mounted a special window display to celebrate local author Brendan Lynch’s 85th birthday at the end of June.

Proprietor John Ryan said: “We are delighted to be involved with such a dedicated writer. His ten books have enhanced Tipperary’s place on the literary map and made a huge contribution to Irish social and literary history.”

Set in Toomevara and Nenagh, There Might Be a Drop of Rain Yet is a unique record of Tipperary life in the 1950s and the immense social changes which followed. Brendan’s three books on literary Dublin have been acclaimed by critics. His recent novella, The Old Gunner and His Medals, is a timely reminder of the horror and futility of war.

Brendan Lynch remembered: “It seems as if it was only yesterday I was discussing with classmates Seamus Cleary and Malachi Cardiff on the corner of Pearse and Kickham Streets what we would all do after leaving school. There was much merriment when I said that money wasn’t my priority, all I wanted was to be a writer!

“It took some time. Emigration to London and a lot of graft, before I established myself.

“It proves, I suppose, that anyone can realise their dreams if they work hard enough. We only get one crack at life, we have a responsibility to make the best of it.

“I never thought I’d see myself in a bookshop window just yards from where we discussed our futures over sixty years ago. I am indebted to John and Catherine Ryan for their birthday acknowledgement.”