Walter Macken – författare

1916, Dublin. Loyalties are strained and tension is rife during the Easter Rebellion and the bitter years that follow.These are the early years of Sinn Féin; the time of dreaded, terrible deeds. Through the diverging lives of two young brothers, the agony of Ireland during this harrowing period is brought to life.The Scorching Wind is the final instalment of Walter Macken’s ambitious and enthralling Irish Trilogy.‘The long tale of terror and bravery, the arrests, the burnings, the ambushes, the reprisals, is told with the deftness of a professional storyteller’ - Irish Press

‘An adventure story that is both exciting and moving’ - The Times1649. As English soldiers trample Irish homesteads, leaving behind them a trail of barbarity and destruction, a few brave men set out to seek a ‘fair land’ over the brow of the hill.Among them is Dominick MacMahon, whose wife has been killed in the bloody massacre of Drogheda, and whose son and daughter accompany him, along with a wounded priest, Father Sebastian.But as Dominick journeys in search of peace and freedom, he is relentlessly pursued by Coote, the Cromwellian ruler of Connaught . . .Seek the Fair Land is the first adventurous and skilfully told story in Walter Macken’s famous Irish Trilogy, which shows the resilience and fortitude of everyday citizens during the Cromwellian conquest.‘The long tale of terror and bravery . . . is told with the deftness of a professional storyteller’ - Irish Press

‘The long tale of terror and bravery . . . is told with the deftness of a professional storyteller’ - Irish Press1826. Millions in Ireland know only famine, oppression and degradation. The landlords have ground down the tenant farmers; tithe wars and injustice are rife.Dualta Duane battles against tyranny, struggling to survive the perils of hunger, poverty and disease. Courageous and fortified by an enduring love, Dualta’s unconquerable spirit personifies the passion for freedom that rages in the soul of Ireland.The Silent People is the second beautifully told instalment of Walter Macken’s acclaimed trilogy, which impressively imagines and portrays Irish history as it was across hundreds of years.‘Poetic, but not sentimental – an engrossing and extremely well-written saga’ - Kirkus Reviews

It is 1649. As the English soldiers trample the Irish homesteads, leaving behind them a trail of barbarity and destruction, a few brave men set out to seek a 'fair land' over the brow of the hill.Among them is Dominick MacMahon, whose wife has been killed in the bloody massacre of Drogheda, and whose son and daughter, and a wounded priest, Father Sebastian, accompany him.But as he journeys in search of peace and freedom he is relentlessly pursued by Coote, the Cromwellian ruler of Connaught . . .

This is a vivid and memorable novel set in Dublin, 1916, during the Easter Rebellion and the bitter years which followed. Through the diverging lives of two young brothers the agony of Ireland during these harrowing times is witnessed.It is the time of the Sinn Fein, of the dreaded Tans, of terrible deeds and of loyalties strained to breaking-point and beyond.

In Ireland in 1826 millions knew only famine, oppression and degradation. The landlords ground down the tenant famers; tithe wars and injustice were rife.But Dualta Duane battles against tyranny, struggling to survive the evils of hunger, poverty and disease. Courageous and fortified by an enduring love, Duane's unconquerable spirit personifies the love of freedom that raged in the soul of Ireland.

Sullivan was a born actor. Blessed and cursed with the artist's gifts and temperament in full measure, he could hold an audience, or a woman's heart, in the palm of his hand. From a boyhood stuffed with multi-coloured dreams to defy Galway's slums, through fit-ups and fairs in the Irish countryside, to struggle and renown in Dublin, London and New York, his crowded, generous journey was rich in comedies, disappointments and surprises.Success was as capricious as the seasons. But when it came, was it enough?Could it replace the one girl who had learnt always to expect the unexpected from Sullivan . . . ?

From boyhood to manhood big, gentle Mico had but two passions in life - the sea, and a young girl so terrible lovely-lookin' it raised your heart to heaven just to see her smile.But with a hideous birthmark on his cheek, a Jonah to those he loved, and only the simple life of a fisherman to offer, how could he hope to win Maeve?The white-capped waves and a great old black bitch of a boat brought the answer . . .

This is the story of Stephen O'Riordan, a true son of the wild and beautiful land of Connemara, of his hopes and ambitions, and of his passionate and stormy love for Kathleen, sister of his bitterest enemy . . .It is also the story of Ireland after twenty-five years of liberty, like Stephen new in its freedom and thought yet primitive in its emotions, its people witty, bawdy, boozy, hard-working, loud-voiced or gentle - but never dull . . .

Like his father before him, Donn is born to the now mythical role of the Lord of the Mountain, a remote community in rural Ireland, unmarked by the passage of time. But Donn longs for a wider kingdom. He deserts his bride, roams the world, fights in wars, is footloose - yet finds that he is homesick.Sixteen years later he returns to take up the threads of his old life, to learn to love his afflicted daughter, and to bring progress to the neglected green valley. Light comes, water flows, the land prospers. Then, on a night of innocent festivity, a monstrous crime is perpetrated.His kingdom violated, Donn dedicates himself to a terrible revenge that can only destroy the avenger as well as the hunted

Careless of the hurts he inflicts along the way, Bart O'Breen walks his own road, as proud as the devil and as lonely as hell.In the Galway village of Boola, Bart O'Breen is a strong wilful young man who leaves trouble and harm in his wake. As always in a novel by Walter Macken, there is a host of memorable secondary characters, and an unfailing accuracy and warmth in the depiction of the life of the "plain people" of the west of Ireland. One of Walter Macken's finest novels, Sunset on the Window-Panes is a moving and memorable story of Irish life.

It is 1649. As the English soldiers trample the Irish homesteads, leaving behind them a trail of barbarity and destruction, a few brave men set out to seek a 'fair land' over the brow of the hill.Among them is Dominick MacMahon, whose wife has been killed in the bloody massacre of Drogheda, and whose son and daughter, and a wounded priest, Father Sebastian, accompany him.But as he journeys in search of peace and freedom he is relentlessly pursued by Coote, the Cromwellian ruler of Connaught . . .

This is a vivid and memorable novel set in Dublin, 1916, during the Easter Rebellion and the bitter years which followed. Through the diverging lives of two young brothers the agony of Ireland during these harrowing times is witnessed.It is the time of the Sinn Fein, of the dreaded Tans, of terrible deeds and of loyalties strained to breaking-point and beyond.

In Ireland in 1826 millions knew only famine, oppression and degradation. The landlords ground down the tenant famers; tithe wars and injustice were rife.But Dualta Duane battles against tyranny, struggling to survive the evils of hunger, poverty and disease. Courageous and fortified by an enduring love, Duane's unconquerable spirit personifies the love of freedom that raged in the soul of Ireland.

Sullivan was a born actor. Blessed and cursed with the artist's gifts and temperament in full measure, he could hold an audience, or a woman's heart, in the palm of his hand. From a boyhood stuffed with multi-coloured dreams to defy Galway's slums, through fit-ups and fairs in the Irish countryside, to struggle and renown in Dublin, London and New York, his crowded, generous journey was rich in comedies, disappointments and surprises.Success was as capricious as the seasons. But when it came, was it enough?Could it replace the one girl who had learnt always to expect the unexpected from Sullivan . . . ?

From boyhood to manhood big, gentle Mico had but two passions in life - the sea, and a young girl so terrible lovely-lookin' it raised your heart to heaven just to see her smile.But with a hideous birthmark on his cheek, a Jonah to those he loved, and only the simple life of a fisherman to offer, how could he hope to win Maeve?The white-capped waves and a great old black bitch of a boat brought the answer . . .

This is the story of Stephen O'Riordan, a true son of the wild and beautiful land of Connemara, of his hopes and ambitions, and of his passionate and stormy love for Kathleen, sister of his bitterest enemy . . .It is also the story of Ireland after twenty-five years of liberty, like Stephen new in its freedom and thought yet primitive in its emotions, its people witty, bawdy, boozy, hard-working, loud-voiced or gentle - but never dull . . .

Like his father before him, Donn is born to the now mythical role of the Lord of the Mountain, a remote community in rural Ireland, unmarked by the passage of time. But Donn longs for a wider kingdom. He deserts his bride, roams the world, fights in wars, is footloose - yet finds that he is homesick.Sixteen years later he returns to take up the threads of his old life, to learn to love his afflicted daughter, and to bring progress to the neglected green valley. Light comes, water flows, the land prospers. Then, on a night of innocent festivity, a monstrous crime is perpetrated.His kingdom violated, Donn dedicates himself to a terrible revenge that can only destroy the avenger as well as the hunted

Careless of the hurts he inflicts along the way, Bart O'Breen walks his own road, as proud as the devil and as lonely as hell.In the Galway village of Boola, Bart O'Breen is a strong wilful young man who leaves trouble and harm in his wake. As always in a novel by Walter Macken, there is a host of memorable secondary characters, and an unfailing accuracy and warmth in the depiction of the life of the "plain people" of the west of Ireland. One of Walter Macken's finest novels, Sunset on the Window-Panes is a moving and memorable story of Irish life.

These stories, rich with the passion and drama which characterises all of Walter Macken’s writing, were conceived by the author as a thematic collection, providing a stunning evocation of the life and people of Galway in the 1940s. They document a time and place, yet they also have a timeless appeal in their portrayal of the people of the city whom Macken knew and loved so well. Full of insight and humour, they do not romanticise the past; rather they celebrate the qualities of ordinary people in their struggles with poverty, with political conservatism and with the sea, ever-present elements in the life of the city of the tribes.Walter Macken has long been one of Ireland’s most popular writers. A novelist who defined in fiction the world of the ‘plain people’ of the west of Ireland, he was a master of the short story.First published posthumously in 1997, these magnificent stories are now brought back to life in the Modern Irish Classics series.