Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of reading and reviewing Anne Emery’s latest Irish novel, Fenian Street. You can read the full review in my Reviews. I reached out to Anne with some questions, and she graciously answered them in the following interview.
I’ve set two books in my series in Ireland, one on the West Coast, and the other in the Iron Age midlands (it’s about Old Croghan Man). I’m currently writing book 5 which is taking me back there again. I’ve travelled to Ireland a few times to do research (2005, 2006, 2017) and have threatened to move there many times. I love to walk on the land my characters walk on and feel the energy.Did you travel to Fenian Street yourself to do this research? What kind of research did you do? I loved doing pub research and made one of my characters an old trad player;)
I spend quite a bit of time in Ireland. Members of my family had their origins in several of the Irish counties. My first visit was in the 1980s; a friend and I took the train from Dublin to Belfast in the midst of the euphemistically-named Troubles, i.e., the war. I saw cars being stopped and searched at checkpoints, saw the tanks, and the British soldiers in the streets with their rifles. We were searched whenever we entered the city centre. In later years, I’ve been making yearly trips to Ireland, basing myself in Dublin and visiting other parts of the country. I have friends there, and that certainly adds to the good times.
As for research, I’m a bit of a fanatic. Even at home in Halifax, I’ll drive or walk along the streets to make sure I don’t have a character going the wrong way on a one-way street. I’ll look over a familiar building, and make sure I have the correct architectural style and period. For Fenian Street and my other Irish novels, I spend time in the various locations, taking photos of the streets and buildings, chatting with people there.
My twelfth book, The Keening, was a standalone historical novel. It is set in County Fermanagh between 1595 and 1607, and has a present-day plot as well. For the historical parts, every single line had to be researched. I couldn’t just say, “They went to the castle.” How did they get there? Walk, horse, carriage? I read dozens of books, even more articles, had interviews with professors, archaeologists, curators, and others, in person and online. And I received great assistance from the librarians in Enniskillen. When I told a friend here about my plans for the book, he said, “By the time you finish, you’ll have a PhD.” Meaning I’d have done as much research as I would for a doctorate. And he was right; it was way more research than I had done for my masters degree. When The Keening was launched, my husband and daughter sent me flowers with a card: “Congratulations on your PhD in Irish History!” And, like you, I’ve done a whack of “pub research” in my day!
I see you have contacts in the Garda Siochana. Did you just reach out to them? What was it like writing a Garda’s life?
I am very grateful to the owner of an Irish bar here in Halifax (where I’ve had several of my book launches). He had met Liam, the retired Garda detective, when the detective visited Halifax and stopped in at the bar. So, I had an introduction, and Liam and I corresponded by email for two years. He was enormously helpful with all my questions about the Garda, police culture and procedure in Ireland, and so much more. Then, on my most recent trip to Dublin, I offered to treat him to supper or drinks, and we agreed to meet. On my way to the bar, I asked myself, “How will I know him from the other fellas in the bar?” Turned out, there was no question who was the garda in the room: I copped on to him, so to speak, right away! I had some great times in Dublin with him and his wife, and I look forward to seeing them again.
Dialect. You use dialect so well, I was instantly transported to Dublin. I jotted down a list in the back of the book of all the ways to talk alcohol;) What was it like writing an entire book in dialect? How did you get it right?
Thank you for those kind words!
Writing dialogue is my favourite part of the process. I could spend hours with a group of people and not remember a thing about what they wore. But I can recount conversations, often word-for-word, and I can remember the cadences and the tones of voice. And I’ve had lots of conversations in Ireland. Take a train from, say, Dublin to Cork, and the person beside you will keep the chat going for the full two and a half hours, all of it entertaining. I’ve stayed in touch with a couple of people I met during train rides, made friends that way.
Spending all that time in Ireland affords me a familiarity with various dialects and, whenever I’m in doubt about a word or phrase, I’ll search for it on Google, to see if I can find it on an Irish site, to make sure it’s genuine. Currently, Fenian Street is being done as an audiobook by an actor originally from Dublin, Ashley O’Connell, so he’s well able for all those Dub voices!
I have one friend near Waterford and based my characters loosely off some young women my daughter lived with when she stayed in Galway to work for a year in 2005. And I have another friend near Glasgow I run lines by when my books take me to Scotland. Did you run your story by someone for a dialect check? Did you start thinking in Shay’s voice? I can sure hear it in the text. I’d be dreaming in dialect. Did you?
Yes, I do hear the characters’ voices in my head, whether I’m awake or dreaming. When a character says something in the Irish language – as Gaeilge – I always check with one of the professors in the Irish Studies program here at St. Mary’s University. He has been a great help to me in my writing.
How does being a lawyer affect your views? Given you write politically pro-Republican have you ever been criticized for your characters’ views or actions?
Oh, yes, being a lawyer has had a great influence on my writing. One of my main characters, Monty Collins, is a criminal lawyer. And I love writing courtroom scenes – with the proviso, of course, that the dramatic stuff must take precedence over procedure!
As for my Irish Republican characters, yes, I am generally in accord with their view, that is, that the 800 years of occupation of Ireland (in whole or in part) should be brought to a decisive end, and Ireland united as one country. But I belabour the question over and over, as my characters do. Brennan Burke in particular, priest and philosopher, agonizes over “just war” theory and its application to the situation in Ireland. He knows all too well that, even when a cause is a just one, the means of fighting for that cause are often far from just.
I remember one encounter here in Nova Scotia. On a day trip out of town, I happened to see a woman I used to work with. She was with her husband. He told me he was reading my book Ruined Abbey. I’m sure I turned pale at the hearing of it! His family is from Portadown in the North of Ireland. Portadown is known as a bastion of “unionism/loyalism”, that is, union with and loyalty to Britain. It is as far as you can get from a hotbed of Irish Republicanism! He was very courteous but allowed as how he didn’t agree with some of what I had written (that was understating things, I’m sure), and I said, “Oh, I understand completely.” And I said we should sit down someday and talk it over. And I hope we do.
Do you have anything in particular you’d like me to mention in my review.
I suppose you could add that the idea for Fenian Street came directly from the street itself. I’m familiar with the street and I thought, “That will be the title of a future book.” It’s all the more appropriate because of the double entendre. It’s the name of a street in working-class Dublin, but there is also the fact that an Irish Republican could say, “We’re all on Fenian Street, are we not?” The Fenians were 19th-century Irish revolutionaries, and the name still carries a powerful charge today. It is frequently used as a sectarian slur in the North of Ireland.
Any idea how long you’ll keep writing Collins-Burke Mysteries?
I’m hoping to keep writing the series indefinitely, le cúnamh Dé (God willing/with the help of God). As you’ve heard countless times before, “I always wanted to write a book.” All my life, I loved to write. I remember thinking how grand it would be to “have written a book” – there it is on the shelf, ambition realized. But half-way through my first book, Sign of the Cross, it struck me that I could not give this up; I’d have to write a series. That’s how addictive writing can be, as I’m sure you know.
For more on Anne Emery and her books, go to her website.
Watching this clip makes me tear up. This is what happens when you write a man’s story and spend years researching and getting to know him. Falling in love with your characters is something we all hope to do.
In To Kill a King, I tell the story of Old Croghan Man and the witches who travel back in time to Iron Age Ireland to save their friend, archaeologist Sorcha O’Hallorhan.
“Her fingers flew to the butterfly tattooed on the back of her neck. Her friend, Yasaman, had designed it for her when she finished grad school. It was her symbol of freedom. Sorcha never wanted to be a professor bound to lecture halls—all she ever craved were the wild places and their stories. Now she was deep inside Ruairí’s story. Sometimes the butterfly brought her joy; other times, inspiration . . . but always a sense of hope. And she needed all three in this moment for her heart was breaking to see her man so broken.”
Sorcha just wanted to warn Ruairí of his fate until she saw him and fell in love. How could she leave him to be ritually murdered and cast in a bog to cure for two thousand years?
Though he’s lost and grieving the loss of his lover, when Estrada realizes his fiery friend, Sorcha O’Hallorhan, is trapped in Iron Age Ireland, he demands that Cernunnos take him and Dylan back through time to rescue her. The Horned God obliges but states the rules: you cannot change history or develop bonds with anyone. How can Sorcha, the spirited archaeologist, survive this prehistoric warrior culture? Assuming she’s fey, Ruairí’s unscrupulous rival wants her power; but worse still, Ruairí’s lover, the wicked Crow Queen, wants her dead.
Can Estrada use his Wiccan powers and magician’s skills to defeat these Iron Age Druids and bring his friends home without changing history?
A spin-off of To Sleep with Stones, Book Four tells the story of archaeologist Sorcha O’Hallorhan’s deepest desire. Watch for this romantic, time-traveling, prehistoric thriller today and find out what it takes To Kill a King.
COMING MARCH 21, 2021!
#time-travel romance #Irish historical romance #historical fantasy thriller
In the prologue of this historical novel, Anne Emery reveals that the title is derived from a Latin phrase inscribed on the Four Courts in Dublin, fiat justitia ruat caelum. Transcribed in English it means “let justice be done though the heavens fall.” It’s a fitting title for a book starring a Catholic priest and a lawyer, both who are consumed by righting wrongs in Northern Ireland.
This book is set in Belfast 1995. Though the IRA has called a ceasefire, it’s still an uneasy time. Centuries of violence and hatred have left a legacy of vengeance that is unforgettable, and for some, unforgivable. Everyone has been affected in some way; most have lost family members, through death and imprisonment. It is a difficult conversation and I applaud Anne Emery for her courage. This could not have been an easy book to research and to write, and is, at times, not easy to read.
Much of the story is based on historical events, and be forewarned: the tale is told by Republican characters from a Republican point-of-view. Though we sometimes hear that horrible crimes were committed by both sides, most events depicted were perpetrated by Orangemen—Protestants loyal to Britain who wanted to keep their border (their wall) and a divided Ireland. The brutal beatings in Loyalist prisons. The Catholic Republican martyrs who died in Kesh while enduring hunger strikes to make their point. These were Nationalists who wanted the British out of Ireland, the border gone, and a free self-determining Republic that included the entire island, all thirty-two counties.
This is a timely book release, given the looming threat imposed by Brexit. If the right deal is not struck between the EU and Britain by the March 29 deadline, the physical partition between north and south, that fell after the Good Friday Peace Agreement in 1998, could rise again with British troops and all the anguish that divides a people.
It is this highly charged emotional backdrop that fuels the question: can justice be done?
The two main characters in this story are both determined to right past wrongs and see justice done. This book is part of a series, the Collins-Burke Mysteries and is actually Book Ten. Having not read any of the others—which are set in Nova Scotia where Collins and Burke live—I read it as a stand-alone. The characters are developed well enough, and we see them working away from home, navigating a hostile environment.
While working in Belfast on a farm equipment case, Monty Collins gets caught up in trying to solve the 1992 murder of a Republican, which has left the man’s family destitute. Because his death has been deemed an accident—Eamon Flannigan was drunk and fell off a bridge so the story goes—his family can claim no financial compensation. Out of the goodness of his heart and his pocketbook, Monty becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened out there on the bridge that night. If he can pin Flannigan’s murder on someone, he can, at least, save this family from financial ruin. The same night near the same bridge, an IRA gunman was executed by an Ulster man.
Meanwhile, Father Brennan Burke is living with his cousin Ronan’s family in Andersontown, a Republican community southwest of Belfast. Ronan Burke is a leading man in the IRA—the man his supporters would hail as Taoiseach (Prime Minister) if ever they had the chance to create a new, peaceful Ireland. He’s tough and he’s loved. He’s also a prime target who travels with bodyguards, and the ghosts of his past, and his son’s, arise to haunt him. Ronan is investigating an unsolved bombing from 1974 that killed many civilians—one of whom was Father Burke’s best mate. The suspects are all dead but one—a man who’s just returned to Belfast, and the Burkes are intent on bringing him to justice.
Emery’s writing is impeccable, sophisticated and polished; the accents subtle enough to set the reader in Belfast without sounding staged or overdone. Though politically complex, Emery has a way of making this war accessible, even understandable. The gritty details are difficult to read. She sets us down in the thick of it, with all the graffiti, the ruins, the prison beatings, and massacres. At times, you can almost smell the smoke of the bombs, feel the despair, taste the blood. And in the end, when the heavens fall and come crashing down around Father Brennan, his realizations link all the puzzle pieces together. For at the heart of this book is a political murder mystery rife with red herrings.
Trees are powerful sentient beings who help mankind and ask for no reward, which is why this garden of trees is so fitting a memorial. Each tree in the Ringfinnan Garden of Remembrance grows for and bears the name of one firefighter or first responder lost during 9/11. There are 343 trees.
We visited the garden before we left Kinsale, Co Cork, Ireland in late July. Its creator, Kathleen Cait Murphy, was born in Kinsale but worked as a nurse for forty years in New York City at Lennox Hill Hospital. After 9/11, she decided to create the garden on her family land. It is dedicated to Father Mychal Judge, Chaplain in the New York Fire Department and personal friend of Kathleen. Though she lost her life to cancer on 29 March, 2011, the garden is still tended and is, in many ways, a tribute to the woman herself.
Wandering through the lines of trees, I read the names, ranks, and positions of those who perished. It is a sad and sombre place on a soft rise that reaches out over the countryside. Some trees cradle weatherworn shirts in their branches. Faded ballcaps adorn the monument. Over the past sixteen years, many families and friends have made a pilgrimage to this sacred place where memories live through the power of the trees.
You can follow a map to the garden via Trip Advisor.
Ireland is rife with beautiful locations: sea vistas, mountains, pasture lands, and rolling fields of grain. One of the best places we stayed was a self-catering cottage in Avoca.
The farm is at the end of a long one-track lane with verge on either side. Finding it was an adventure. The first lane brought us to a farmhouse where the lovely woman explained to us where we needed to go. We were close. Then another woman drove in and said she’d take us there. So we followed her to the right turnoff. I was nervous going down the thousand-year-old laneway because if anyone came at me, there was no way I could back out. Fortunately, we made it in and out three times without running into anyone.
It is an incredibly peaceful scene. The hosts live next door in Holly Farm. Sanchia explained some of the history to me:
The house has been here since the early 1600’s. There was a farm and people already living here then. The same family were here for eight generations before the farm was sold in 1918. It changed hands twice since then until we bought the derelict buildings in 2000.
The Granary was a farm outbuilding used for storing the grain used to feed a small dairy herd. It also held the milk churns before they were collected by the dairy.
The farm was a small one, 80 acres. It is now joined with the neighbour’s farm. He sold the derelict buildings and a couple of acres to us.
The lane is part of what used to be called ” mass paths”, going across hills and farms from outlying areas to the church–our lane went between Ballycoog and Croghan (the big hill with the windmills you can see from the deck) and Avoca church. The lane is possibly 1000 years old.
Croghan Hill is the scene of my research. We climbed it the day before and were now on the other side of it. The scene was remote, but we also felt wonderfully secure and part of the landscape. We were able to sit out on the back deck and enjoy the countryside. The weather is fickle; changing from sun to cloud to rain to wind and back again constantly. One of the more beautiful moments was this rainbow:
We were able to watch DVDs, cook our own dinners, read, and generally make peace with ourselves and our travels. Avoca is the town where Ballykissangel was filmed. I can’t imagine how the film team managed with all their equipment. They must have parked in the large lot across from the church on the hill. There are not many stores there–a touristy Ballykissangel shop, a small grocer, the Fitzgerald pub, a Tourist Info shop with computers/wifi–but Arklow is about a twenty minute drive and has all the shops including Aidi and a Dunne’s store in the mall. We also spent a day hiking in Glendalough, which was gorgeous and is less than an hour’s drive north (remembering that I drive slow on these thin twisty roads).
We loved the animals. Three dogs met us every time we ventured out; in fact, two of them spent the whole day with us when we first arrived. There are also a pair of white geese and a flock of free-ranging ducks. Birds sing, sheep bleat, and the wind whispers through the pastures.
Sanchia and Richard have lovely gardens and she gave us fresh zucchini and cucumbers from her hothouse! She also provided duck eggs, almond milk, butter substitute, gluten-free bread, and condiments. She caters to people with food allergies. Just be sure to let her know in advance.
If you enjoy the experience of visiting sacred sites, Uisneach (pronounced ish-neck) is one you should not miss. It has all the magic and myth of places like Tara and Newgrange, but it’s off the tourist trail, so you can enjoy a heartwarming trek with a small group. It is in the process of becoming a UNESCO site, so this may not last. The space has a warm and friendly energy, and is staffed by just two (at least the day I went). Justin met me and invited me into the Visitor’s Centre for tea and biscuits. He is an archaeology expert and knows much about this site and others like it in Ireland. He also provided tea and biscuits after the two-hour tour and people had opportunities to converse and ask questions. (The tour begins at 1pm daily–closed Monday and Tuesday.)
Marty was our wonderful storyteller. Here he is explaining how this 10,000-year-old glacial rock is actually the bellybutton of Ireland.
The two-hour tour involves walking (some up) around the hills and pasture lands. We were several families from Europe and North America and the kids kept us entertained by asking the coolest questions. Marty didn’t miss a beat but incorporated their queries into his stories. (Unicorns even made it into the story). He told us tales of the Tuatha De Danaans and their battle with the Fomorians, and the triumph of the bright and shining Sun God, Lugh, who is said to have met his mortal end here in the pool.
This place is Druid HQ so many pagan groups come here for rituals. Local artists have carved the faces of the gods, Lugh and Eriu (Erin=Ireland). Every May 1 on Bealtaine (Be-al-tin-a) Uisneach hosts a Fire Festival that looks amazing. This is now on my list. You can watch a video here.
The God Lugh
One of my favourite stories was about the souterrains used by Iron Age people. A souterrain is a cave structure dug out beneath the ground. Marty gave us a slapstick retelling of his experience crawling down a channel into a souterrain that was as black as night. After getting over his initial terror, he fell asleep in the womb of the mother earth. The hidden entrances were marked by rocks. If another tribe invaded to steal your cattle (cattle were highly valued as status and currency) the tribe would hide them along with their women and children below ground in these darkened caves where they would be protected. This gorgeous Angus bull would have been a prize, I’m sure.
To take a tribe’s women and children diminished their tribe and strengthened yours. Slaves were always needed in this hierarchical culture.
It reminded me of a story I heard many years ago on the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia. The Coast Salish people did something similar when the Haida came down the coast in their war canoes hunting slaves. On top of Mount Daniel (in Pender Harbour) is a beautiful space with a fresh water lake. The women and children would be moved up the mountain where they would be safe and protected from the Haida. I like this idea and wonder how we protect our women and children now?
A Stone Map of Ireland
The same 10,000 year old glacial map depicts a map of Ireland from this angle. You can see the four provinces: Connacht in the west, Ulster in the north, Leinster in the east, and Munster in the south. Mide was in the middle where we stood at Uisneach. In ancient times, ceremonial centres were located like spokes around Uisneach and were joined by log roads over which horses, chariots, wagons, people, and food moved. (This brings to mind that image of Gandolph pulling into the Shire with his wagon full of fireworks.) Marty says that each Sabbat festival was celebrated in a different location. This is fascinating sacred geography and it can still be done.
On Winter Solstice, the sun is aligned with the passage tomb at Newgrange. You need to win a lottery to get inside, but it’s worth a try. You can always just camp out on the grass and soak up the magic.
The Spring and Fall Equinoxes are aligned at the ceremonial complex at Loughcrew.
Bealtaine was celebrated at Uisneach. Carrowkeel in Co. Sligo aligns with Summer Solstice. The Mound of the Hostages at the Hill of Tara is aligned with the sun at Samhain (sow-in)
To celebrate the turning of the wheel of the year and the passing of the sun through its annual phases brought stability to an agrarian world that depended on the weather for survival. In fact, in times of weather upheaval, whole tribes could be wiped out or have to relocate. This is something to think about given our current predicament.
Blessings from the Faerie Tree at Uineach!
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