John B. Keane - Böcker

The Field is John B. Keane's fierce and tender study of the love a man can have for land and the ruthless lengths he will go to in order to obtain the object of his desire. It is dominated by Bull McCabe, one of the most famous characters in Irish writing today. An Oscar-nominated adaptation of The Field proved highly successful and popular worldwide, and starred Richard Harris, John Hurt, Brenda Fricker and Tom Berenger.

Moll is a hilarious and highly successful comedy about life in an Irish country presbytery.’When a presbytery gets a new housekeeper it becomes like a country that gets a change of government, or like a family that gets a new stepmother’. Moll Kettle would work for no less than a canon for, in her own words, ‘Tis hard to come back to the plain black and white when one is used to the purple’.John B. Keane was one of Ireland's most prolific and respected literary figures. He was born in 1928 in Listowel, County Kerry and it was here that he spent his literary career, running a pub which provided him with inspiration for his characters and ideas.His first play, 'Sive', was presented by the Listowel Drama Group and won the All-Ireland Drama Festival in 1959. It was followed by another success, 'Sharon's Grave', in 1960. 'The Field' (1965) and 'Big Maggie' (1969), are widely regarded as classics of the modern Irish stage and jewels in a crown which includes such popular hits as 'Many Young Men of Twenty', 'The Man from Clare', 'Moll', 'The Chastitute' and 'The Year of the Hiker'. His large canon of plays have been seen abroad in cities as far afield as Moscow and Los Angeles. 'Big Maggie' ran on Broadway for over two months in 1982 and 'The Field' was adapted into an Oscar-winning Hollywood film, starring Brenda Fricker and Richard Harris, in 1991.

'Big Maggie 'J. B. Keane's most outspoken play' - The Irish Press'Keane ... has brought the tyranny, the desperation and the frustration of the rural Irish matriarch roaring into the top twenties' 'A full-blooded, salty, earthy play with a great ring of truth and uproarious with comedy' - The Irish Times'His depth of perception reveals a mature Keane' - Cork Examiner The story of Big Maggie Polpin and her attempts to keep her family together after the death of her husband is an enduring theatre favourite. The dialogue crackles with hilarious, caustic putdowns as the indomitable Maggie deals with her feckless family and unwanted suitors. Everyone wants a part of Big Maggie and her property, but she has other ideas. John B. Keane's wonderful creation of a rural Irish matriarch ranks with Juno, Mommo and Molly Bloom as one of the great female creations of twentieth-century Irish literature.

A musical play dealing with emigration and the lack of jobs at home that forced people to leave their native Ireland for England. It describes the emigrants 'longing for home’ - 'Everyone is lonesome leaving home' - their annual homecomings and their return to jobs and places they disliked - 'back to their night shifts, an' filthy digs ... with their long faces leanin' out o' the carriage windows with the thoughts of what's waitin' over'.

Mercier Press and Literature Ireland are proud to announce the co-publication of John B. Keane's play 'Sive' translated into Ukrainian as 'Saiv' by Andriy Masliukh. This publication brings a major work in Ireland's theatrical canon direct to the Ukrainian community in Ireland. Mercier Press and Literature Ireland hope many new readers and Leaving Certificate students will engage with the play’s timeless characters and themes.Saih — yuna, vrodlyva divchyna-syrota, yaka zhyve zi svoyim dyadkom Maykom, yoho druzhynoyu Menoyu ta babuseyu Nannoyu. Mistsevyy svat, Tomashin Shon Rua, khoche vydaty Sayv zamizh za staroho na im'ya Shon Dota i perekonuye Mayka z Menoyu vlashtuvaty tsey shlyub. U vynahorodu vony otrymayut u den vesillya dvisti funtiv. Odnak Sayv zakokhana v molodoho cholovika, yakoho zovut Liyam Skvab. Toy, u tim, yiyi opikunam ne pidkhodyt, tozh yomu vidmovlyayut. Sertse u Sayv rozbyte, prote vona zmushena korytysya voli svoho dyadka ta yoho lykhoyi druzhyny. Pered lytsem maybutnoho, yake nichoho, krim zhakhu, u neyi ne vyklykaye, u neyi zalyshayetʹsya lyshe odyn vykhid. Vpershe postavleny na stsenu v lyutomu 1959-ho roku, tsya drama, diya yakoyi vidbuvayetʹsya na tli suvoroyi bidnosti u vazhki dlya Irlandiyi 1950-ti roky, vyklykala chymalo superechok. Vidtodi "Sayv" stala nevid'yemnoyu chastynoyu irlandskoho teatralnoho kanonu.Typesetting by Dmytro Podolyanchuk Editing by Kateryna Mikhalitsyna

According to the irrepressible John B Keane, "When Christmas came to our street it came with a loud laugh and an expansive humour that healed old wounds and lifted the hearts of young and old."In this collection of Christmas tales, he gives us stories of romance, love, fairies and wise men from the East to entertain and enlighten during the festive season. In these accounts of the heart-warming, the funny, the dramatic and the sad, the traditions and culture of a disappearing rural Irish Christmas are brought to life with a magic that will warm winter days and delight anyone who believes in the spirit of Christmas.

The Buds come to Ballybunion for their yearly break before the snows of winter whiten the hills. (Bud is an abbreviation of the Gaelic word, Bodaire, meaning a sort of rough, country person). They bring with them their own eggs, bacon, bread, butter, jam, cabbage, spuds, etcetera.They pay for their lodgings and the landlady, Mary O'Dea, does the cooking. They are, alas, the last of their kind.“In came the Ballybunion Buds their vittles for to ate,'Twas hard-boiled eggs and griddle bread and lumpsof hairy mate.'Twas hard-boiled eggs for breakfast and 'twas softboiledeggs for tay,You could hear the craturs clocking and they facingfor the say.”

These are the letters of a country matchmaker faithfully recorded by John B. Keane, whose knowledge of matchmaking is second to none.In these letters is revealed the unquenchable, insatiable longing that smoulders unseen under the mute, impassive faces of our bachelor brethren.Comparisons may be odious but readers will find it fascinating to contrast the Irish matchmaking system with that of the 'Cumangettum Love Parlour' in Philadelphia.They will meet many unique characters from the Judas Jennies of New York to Fionnuala Crust of Coomasahara who buried two giant-sized, sexless husbands but eventuallyfound happiness with a pint-sized jockey from North Cork.

Large Text Edition: Sive is a young and beautiful orphan who lives with her uncle Mike, his wife Mena and his mother Nanna. A local matchmaker, Thomasheen Seán Rua, wants Sive to marry an old man called Sean Dóta. Thomasheen convinces Mike and Mena to organise the marriage. They will receive a sum of two hundred pounds as soon as she marries him. However, Sive is in love with a young man, Liam Scuab. But Liam is not suitable and is refused permission to marry Sive. Sive is distraught but is forced to do the will of her uncle and his bitter wife. Faced with an unthinkable future she takes the only choice left to her. Set against the harsh poverty and difficult times of 1950s Ireland, Sive caused considerable controversy on its debut in February 1959. Since then it has become an established part of Ireland's theatrical canon.

Life is harsh in close-knit community of Dirrabeg, a community on the Dingle Peninsula facing extinction in the mid-1950's. Many of the young have left for England or America, where there are opportunities and chances for secure lives. Those remaining behind love their land and their independence but fear for the future as the bogs get thin, the yields are poor, and the children have little hope of success.‘We never died a winter yet.’A wickedly funny and insightful novel from the author of Sive, The Field, The Year of the Hiker, and many other classic works.In the Kerry village of Dirrabeg in the 1950s, the annual wren dance is a moment of light within the dark winter, especially for bodhrán player Donal Hallapy, whose skills are in high demand. But this paganism, and the singing, dancing and drinking that take place, are anathema to Canon Tett, who resolves to crush the old customs.Donal Hallapy, devoted father of a large family, is a bodhran player. He is always in great demand whenever the once-a-year wrendances take place, a day long festival on St Stephen’s Day, which can be traced back to pagan times. This paganism, the secret nature of the celebrations, the singing, dancing and drinking that takes place, and the fact that the church has no control over them has made them anathema to "the clan of the round collar," in the person of Canon Tett, an ultraconservative and downright sadistic priest determined to bring the free spirits of Dirrabeg to bay by ending the fun of the wrendances.Wickedly funny and full of insight into age-old conflicts and a lifestyle long passed into memory.

Durango is an adventure story about the great October cattle drive of Tubberlick. Set in rural Ireland during the Second World War, this novel features the themes of love, sex, money and betrayal. Durango has been produced as a film starring Brenda Fricker, Patrick Bergin and Pat Laffin.