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Shanghai'd

by Jack Byrne Below is a draft opening of a novel. I’m happy to hear your thoughts, if you would like to read more and are willing to give me notes on it get in touch. Chapter 1 March 2021 Mina Mina Haidar came to the Pier Head often, but today was different. A woman bumped into her and waved a sign. ‘No vaccine for The China Virus’. People came from all directions, voices grew, chants and…

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May Day or Loyalty Day?

May Day or Loyalty Day? May 1st is International Workers Day, to commemorate the struggle for the eight hour day in 1886 during a strike and protest the Haymarket Massacre took place in Chicago when police fought strikers and many died. But did you know the US government tried to replace it with Loyalty Day? Check out the video linked below. Below is from the Acknowledgements for my third book…

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Irish Eyes - Special Offer

By Mattie Lennon UNDER THE BRIDGE I told you last month that I was starting to read Under the Bridge, the first of Jack Byrne’s trilogy, which covers a hundred years of the connection between Liverpool and the author’s ancestral home of Wicklow. The other two are Across the Water and Before the Storm. After the first few pages I predicted that it was going to be a brilliant read and, while I…

[jackbyrnewriter]

The Black Christ?

Arthur John Dooley (17 January 1929 – 7 January 1994) went from being a welder at Cammell Laird shipbuilders on leaving school, to developing as an artist making impassioned religious sculptures in metal, via the Irish Guards, the Palestine Liberation Organisation, and a cleaning job at St. Martin’s School of Art, where he finally found his true vocation. The Black Christ  As a kid I regularly…

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|St Patrick and the Irish

The saints day has been marked in Ireland since the 10th Century but became a holy day celebrated by both the Catholic and Anglican churches after a campaign by Franciscan friar Luke Waddington  and was established in 1631 on the day of the Saint’s death 17th March. The feast day became a rallying and meeting point for the Irish wherever emigration took them, from New York to New Zealand. The…

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Cries of pain

A symphony of pain or a discordant melody I’m not sure which is closer. As the bus bounced and jolted through the Irish countryside pain played it’s tune. Bass notes were constant and would rumble and vibrate while the higher ones danced and darted here and there, my left arm was immobile. The hand trembled, and fingers moved, but the arm was surrounded by an electric field that sent shocks if I…

[jackbyrnewriter]

A Chimney Fire and a Moron

A chimney fire sounds like an oxymoron, words that shouldn’t go together, or sound odd, like Everton and winning, or conservative and caring. But go together they did, the chimney and the fire: not Lizz Truss suddenly caring about the tens of thousands she plunged into fear of bankruptcy, or Boris giving a toss about old people getting Covid, and yes I know Everton should be much higher in…

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Derry and the Nature of Loss

The marching bands formed high up in the Creggan estate and their rhythms filled the streets. Palestinian flags were everywhere on the march in Solidarity with those in Gaza suffering the bombardment from Israel and for a ceasefire. The wind and rain were determined to whip the march and the flags but the effect was only to make them fly with more pride and passion. People joined the march from…

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Why Hope is not the answer in 2024

The devastation and death in Ukraine and Gaza are a denial of Hope, rather than Hope we should look to her daughters. “Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.” ― Augustine of Hippo I wish you all a safe and succesful 2024. I am in discussion to see if we can get Irish editions of…

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How do you determine your own identity when you’re born in England, but don’t identify with ‘Englishness’?

The recent death and funeral of Shane MacGowan has sparked an outpouring of grief internationally, for a musician and poet who fused the sensibilities of 70s punk with traditional Irish music. MacGowan was born in the UK of Irish parents, like another leading light of punk – John Lydon, or Johnny Rotten, of Sex Pistols fame – who spent summers in rural Ireland and the rest of the year in London.…

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The Mighty Shane and Sinéad Part 2

Most readers of this blog will know by now, that one of my my older brothers committed suicide while in the British Army in Ireland. He was nineteen at the time, I was three days short of my fifteenth birthday. At the age of thirteen I read the Ragged Trousered Philanthropist, and then followed up with all the socialist literature I could get my hands on. I thought my contribution to the world…

[jackbyrnewriter]

The Mighty Shane and Sinéad

I was recently reminded of my earliest flirtations with punk, I was never a full on punk and went to Eric’s no more than once or twice. I remember Bernie Connor who lived in the same street, playing The Stranglers’ ‘Peaches’ single to me when it first came out, he went on to become an afficionado of all things punk related and is today a well respected DJ on the scene.For me it was more about the…

[jackbyrnewriter]

The Mighty Shane and Sinéad

I was recently reminded of my earliest flirtations with punk, I was never a full on punk and went to Eric’s no more than once or twice. I remember Bernie Connor who lived in the same street, playing The Stranglers’ ‘Peaches’ single to me when it first came out, he went on to become an afficionado of all things punk related and is today a well respected DJ on the scene.For me it was more about the…

[jackbyrnewriter]

The Mighty Shane and Sinéad

I was recently reminded of my earliest flirtations with punk, I was never a full on punk and went to Eric’s no more than once or twice. I remember Bernie Connor who lived in the same street, playing The Stranglers’ ‘Peaches’ single to me when it first came out, he went on to become an afficionado of all things punk related and is today a well respected DJ on the scene.For me it was more about the…

[jackbyrnewriter]

Who tells our story?

‘A love letter to Liverpool with a touch of Peaky Blinders’Story telling is a tradition in many cultures. It becomes a way of passing on the history and culture of a people through legends and myths, often of heroes and villains, sometimes of ordinary people and their way of life. In and around the myth and legend real history and family events could be woven and passed on, from one generation to…

[jackbyrnewriter]

Under The Bridge and Across The Water. It's a Small World

Oh, the waterOh, the waterOh, the waterHope it don’t rain all dayVan Morrison ‘And it stoned me’ Pitch black country roads, the rain attacked the car, the wind pushed and pulled trees and branches, leaves flew through the swirling sky.“It was no night to be driving.’ Danny, originally from Carrickfergus, told me about the night before. I was at the Town of Books fair in Graiguenamanagh,…

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Brexit - The End of Empire - Before the Storm

My latest book Before The Storm is set the day after the Brexit referendum in 2016. Novels work on many levels and as a writer, it’s great when a reader or reviewer sees beyond the immediate plot to look at the larger theme or story. Of course, I am equally pleased when someone says, ‘It was a great read that had me guessing all the way to the end.’ ‘This is where we jump back to 1981 and see…