The wit and wisdom of Kerry - Breda Joy

This new collection about Kerry represents a county which has produced leading national figures, such as Daniel O’Connell and Dick Spring, and has been at the centre of numerous critical news-making events in Irish life. The book is divided into a variety of sections such as politics, sport, the demon drink, marriage, humour and emigration; it journeys from the sublime to the ridiculous, stopping off at assorted stations in between. Contributions are from well-known Kerry writers – the ‘usual suspects’ – to memoirs, journals and anthologies below the general radar. Masters of literature such as Con Houlihan, John B. Keane, Brendan Kennelly, and John Millington Synge are quoted, alongside other, less well-known sources who all add colour to this portrait of the kingdom. Within these pages you will find a connection between Kilgarvan and Martin Luther King Jnr, Dingle and Dolly Parton, Killarney and Brendan Behan. Even the handsome Hollywood heartthrob George Clooney gets a few words in.