Merrion Press 🔖has just published a new book by Arthur Mathews.
OUT NOW
WALLED IN BY HATE
Kevin O'Higgins, His Friends and Enemies
ARTHUR MATHEWS
Written by Arthur
Mathews, co-creator of Father Ted, Walled in by Hate is a fascinating
exploration of the short yet remarkable life of Kevin O’Higgins,
one of the the most divisive figures in the early years of the
Irish State, whose legacy and career are still debated to this day.
In July 1927, at just thirty-five years
old, Kevin O’Higgins was assassinated on his way
to Mass in Booterstown, Co. Dublin. A reviled
figure for anti-Treaty republicans, O’Higgins became the target of
particular venom for his vocal support of the Free State
government’s execution policy during the Civil War, which saw
seventy-seven IRA men executed, including the best man at his
wedding, Rory O’Connor.
In Walled in By Hate,
Arthur Mathews examines not just the life and death of
O’Higgins, focussing on that most acrimonious time in his
life, but also those of his contemporaries, such as O’Connor and
Erskine Childers, who shaped the course of events around him.
Unusually, he also delves deep into O’Higgins’s relationships
with the women around him and chronicles the reactions of the men
who killed him, subjects that, until now, have remained largely
unexplored.
One of the most compelling characters to have emerged from the conflict,
someone still the target of vitriol today, the tragic story of
Kevin O’Higgins encapsulates the bitter divisions of a
time in Irish history that continue to
echo in today’s Ireland.
Paperback • €19.99 | £17.99 • 304 pages
• 226 mm x 153 mm • 9781785375118
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Arthur Mathews was born in Meath in
1959. With Graham Linehan he co-created and wrote Father
Ted and Big Train. He has
also written for The Fast Show, Harry
Enfield and Chums, and Brass
Eye amongst many others. He co-wrote the stage
musical I, Keano and the
feature film Wide Open Spaces.
With Matt Berry he has co-written the television shows Toast
of London and Toast of
Tinseltown (each a winner of The Rose d’Or) as
well as Squeamish About and The
Road To Brexit.
Merrion Press 🔖has just published a new book by Arthur Mathews.
OUT NOW
WALLED IN BY HATE
Kevin O'Higgins, His Friends and Enemies
ARTHUR MATHEWS
Written by Arthur
Mathews, co-creator of Father Ted, Walled in by Hate is a fascinating
exploration of the short yet remarkable life of Kevin O’Higgins,
one of the the most divisive figures in the early years of the
Irish State, whose legacy and career are still debated to this day.
In July 1927, at just thirty-five years
old, Kevin O’Higgins was assassinated on his way
to Mass in Booterstown, Co. Dublin. A reviled
figure for anti-Treaty republicans, O’Higgins became the target of
particular venom for his vocal support of the Free State
government’s execution policy during the Civil War, which saw
seventy-seven IRA men executed, including the best man at his
wedding, Rory O’Connor.
In Walled in By Hate,
Arthur Mathews examines not just the life and death of
O’Higgins, focussing on that most acrimonious time in his
life, but also those of his contemporaries, such as O’Connor and
Erskine Childers, who shaped the course of events around him.
Unusually, he also delves deep into O’Higgins’s relationships
with the women around him and chronicles the reactions of the men
who killed him, subjects that, until now, have remained largely
unexplored.
One of the most compelling characters to have emerged from the conflict,
someone still the target of vitriol today, the tragic story of
Kevin O’Higgins encapsulates the bitter divisions of a
time in Irish history that continue to
echo in today’s Ireland.
Paperback • €19.99 | £17.99 • 304 pages
• 226 mm x 153 mm • 9781785375118
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Arthur Mathews was born in Meath in
1959. With Graham Linehan he co-created and wrote Father
Ted and Big Train. He has
also written for The Fast Show, Harry
Enfield and Chums, and Brass
Eye amongst many others. He co-wrote the stage
musical I, Keano and the
feature film Wide Open Spaces.
With Matt Berry he has co-written the television shows Toast
of London and Toast of
Tinseltown (each a winner of The Rose d’Or) as
well as Squeamish About and The
Road To Brexit.
Former IRA volunteer and ex-prisoner, spent 18 years in Long Kesh, 4 years on the blanket and no-wash/no work protests which led to the hunger strikes of the 80s. Completed PhD at Queens upon release from prison. Left the Republican Movement at the endorsement of the Good Friday Agreement, and went on to become a journalist. Co-founder of The Blanket, an online magazine that critically analyzed the Irish peace process. Lead researcher for the Belfast Project, an oral history of the Troubles.
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