Tag Archives: booker prize

Ciaran O’Driscoll has pleasant memories of time he spent in County Clare from visiting his parents at their home in Ballynacally, to his love of the concertina that brought him west from London to the Willie Clancy Summer School, where he attended the concertina weekend on many an occasion. It is his love of words and storytelling, and his interest in passing on the knowledge he has amassed to a younger generation, that is the mark of the man. “My mother and father lived in Ballynacally for about 20 years. My father thought Clare was the place to go because of the music,” he said. “He played an accordion but wasn’t very good at it but he’d practise every night. He would practise into one or two o’clock in the morning and used to drive my poor mother mad. And when I was in London I used to go over for the Willie Clancy Week with a gang of people …

KILMIHIL author Niall Williams was crossing a street in London on Wednesday when he received news that his latest novel, History of the Rain, had been long-listed for the prestigious Man Booker Prize. He is the only Irish author nominated. The story is set in the village of Faha in West Clare, where young Ruth Swain lies bedridden in an attic room piled high with 3,958 books. The character tells the story of herself, her father and the family of English clergymen from which he came. Outside, it’s raining. For the first time in its 46-year history, the £50,000 prize has been opened up to writers of any nationality, writing originally in English and published in the UK. “I was very surprised to get word this morning. It was completely unexpected and I’m absolutely delighted. I got a phonecall from the publishers to tell me that in an hour’s time, the announcement would happen. The phone rang and they asked …