Kerry O'Brien, A Memoir

Author: Kerry O'Brien
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1760637874
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 1162

Book Description
Born the day after the first American occupying troops landed near Tokyo in August 1945, Kerry O'Brien's life has spanned the post-war era through the maelstrom of the nuclear and digital age-a remarkable time of intense and dynamic change that has no match in human history. He has witnessed life changing events, interviewed the great and good, and explained the intricacies of the world to millions of Australians as we sat in the comfort and safety of our lounge rooms. Whether strolling the history-laden corridors of the White House unhindered while waiting to interview Barack Obama, or talking with Nelson Mandela on his first day in the presidential residence in Pretoria in a room filled with the blood-soaked ghosts of apartheid, or receiving a haughty rebuke from an indignantly regal Margaret Thatcher, or exploring ideas with some of the great artists, philosophers and scientists of our time, Kerry O'Brien has sought to unearth the truth behind the news. In Australia, he has watched thirteen prime ministers come and go and has called the powerful to account without fear or favour. In this intimate ground-breaking account told with wit and insight O'Brien reflects on the big events, the lessons learned and lessons ignored, along with the foibles and strengths of public figures who construct our world. The end result is a memoir like no other - an engrossing study of a private life lived in the public eye and wrapped in nearly three-quarters of a century of social and political history.

Keating

Author: Kerry O'Brien
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 1925268489
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 816

Book Description
Paul Keating is widely credited as the chief architect of the most significant period of political and economic reform in Australia's history. Twenty years on, there is still no story from the horse's mouth of how it all came about. No autobiography. No memoir. Yet he is the supreme story-teller of politics. This book of revelations fills the gap. Kerry O'Brien, the consummate interviewer who knew all the players and lived the history, has spent many long hours with Keating, teasing out the stories, testing the memories and the assertions. What emerges is a treasure trove of anecdotes, insights, reflections and occasional admissions from one of the most loved and hated political leaders we have known-a man who either led or was the driving force through thirteen years of Labor government that changed the face of Australia. This is a man who as prime minister personally negotiated the sale of a quarter of the government-owned Qantas in his own office for $665 million, then delighted in watching the buyer's hand shake so much that champagne spilt down his shirtsleeve. He tells of his grave moment of doubt after making one of the riskiest calls of his political life, and how he used an acupuncturist and a television interviewer to seize the day. There are many stories of this kind. The revealing inside stories and even glimpses of insecurities that go with the wielding of power, from a man who had no fear collecting his share of enemies and ended up with more than enough, but whose parliamentary performances from 25 years ago are watched avidly on YouTube today by a generation that was either not yet born or in knee pants when he was at his peak. We'll never get an autobiography or a memoir from Keating. This is as good as it gets-funny, sweeping, angry, imaginative, mischievous, with arrogance, a glimmer of humility and more than a touch of creative madness. Keating unplugged.

The Heart and Soul of Kerry Football

Author: Weeshie Fogarty (decd.)
Publisher: The O'Brien Press Ltd
ISBN: 1847178979
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 184

Book Description
Why has Kerry, in the rugged south-west, won more All-Ireland Gaelic football championships than any other county? It's a fascinating question, and The Heart & Soul of Kerry Football provides plenty of answers. Weeshie Fogarty tells stories about the great players he played with and against, Kerry's intense rivalries and its outstanding captains. He extols the handing down of a unique tradition, and explains why the increasing profile of girls and women bodes well for the future of the sport. Weeshie also selects his all-time most skilful/classy/stylish team, which is sure to spark debate in the homes and pubs of Kerry. Gaelic football is the very heartbeat of Irish life and culture, both in the Kingdom and beyond, and players and coaches from the most successful county have grown the sport in Ireland and internationally. This unique book reveals the living heart and soul of Kerry football.

Kerry

Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781847179302
Category : Kerry (Ireland)
Languages : en
Pages : 160

Book Description
The Kingdom of Kerry is both a visitor's and a photographer's delight. Everywhere you turn, in every season, there's a feast for the eyes, from magnificent sunsets to huge Atlantic waves to the bare trees of winter. Discover miles and miles of beaches, rugged peninsulas, inlets and cliffs, as well as mountains, lakes, sheep and wild goats. The soft rains produce an abundance of flora, like bog cotton and fuchsia, while the lush, sweet grass is perfect for Kerry's famous dairy farming. The towns, like Killarney and Tralee, are lively and welcoming, and the people are proud of all things Kerry, from their Gaelic footballers to their writers and artists. In summer, festivals abound, like the Puck Fair in Killorglin, Listowel Writers' Festival or the Rose of Tralee, while locals and visitors alike also enjoy great fishing, regattas and GAA. John Wesson celebrates Kerry's people and lifestyle, its moods and its magnificence. Come and explore this phenomenal natural wilderness, nestled on the Atlantic's edge. Here there is room to be alone ... but never lonely.

Ireland Through Birds

Author: Conor W. O'Brien
Publisher: Merrion Press
ISBN: 1785373072
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 169

Book Description
Twelve birds. One country. A wild Ireland waiting to be discovered. In Ireland Through Birds, Conor O’Brien takes the reader on an ornithological adventure around Ireland in search of twelve of our rarest and most elusive birds. Along the journey the author explores every kind of landscape and habitat our island has to offer across all four seasons, from the remote isles of Donegal to the rugged mountains of Kerry and urban parks of Dublin. Through it all, O’Brien is enchanted by calling corncrakes, mesmerised by hunting harriers, and chased by angry skuas. It’s a journey through a staggering array of landscapes that’ll bring the reader face to face with the rich history and stunning wildlife to be savoured right on our doorstep. It explores the stories of the remarkable birds that live here: the genius of the jay, the sublime mimicry of the cuckoo, the nocturnal prowess of the barn owl, while paying a moving,poetic tribute to our natural heritage – and a warning about the threats that face it. Ireland Through Birds is a unique blend of natural history and travelogue, making it a great read for anyone with an interest in Ireland’s natural world.

Country Girl

Author: Edna O'Brien
Publisher: Little, Brown
ISBN: 0316230367
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 358

Book Description
"Country Girl is Edna O'Brien's exquisite account of her dashing, barrier-busting, up-and-down life."-National Public Radio When Edna O'Brien's first novel, The Country Girls, was published in 1960, it so scandalized the O'Briens' local parish that the book was burned by its priest. O'Brien was undeterred and has since created a body of work that bears comparison with the best writing of the twentieth century. Country Girl brings us face-to-face with a life of high drama and contemplation. Starting with O'Brien's birth in a grand but deteriorating house in Ireland, her story moves through convent school to elopement, divorce, single-motherhood, the wild parties of the '60s in London, and encounters with Hollywood giants, pop stars, and literary titans. There is love and unrequited love, and the glamour of trips to America as a celebrated writer and the guest of Jackie Onassis and Hillary Clinton. Country Girl is a rich and heady accounting of the events, people, emotions, and landscape that have imprinted upon and enhanced one lifetime.

History's Daughter

Author: Maire MacSwiney Brugha
Publisher: The O'Brien Press
ISBN: 1847176232
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 327

Book Description
Máire MacSwiney Brugha is the only child of Terence MacSwiney, one of the greatest figures in Ireland's history, who died after seventy-three days on hunger strike in Brixton Prison on 25 October 1920. His death became worldwide news. MacSwiney is reputed to have been quoted by Mahatma Gandhi as the main inspiration for his own life's work leading to the downfall of the British empire in India; Ho Chi Minh said of MacSwiney: 'A nation which has such citizens will never surrender.' At the time of his death Máire was a young child. Her mother, Muriel, a member of the wealthy Murphy distillery family, had made an extraordinary and controversial match in marrying MacSwiney. The young widow then abandoned Ireland for continental Europe, taking her little daughter with her. For nine years Máire was to live away from Ireland, mostly in Germany with occasional breaks in Paris with her mother. She grew up effectively as a German child, speaking the German language, skiing to school -- and forgetting all about her Irish background. This was truly an extraordinary upbringing for the daughter of one of Ireland's greatest heroes. In the early thirties, when she was fourteen, Máire made a dramatic escape with her aunt, Máire MacSwiney, the sister of Terence, home to Ireland, against her mother's wishes. This was widely reported and led to a court case claiming that her aunt had 'kidnapped' her -- but Máire strongly refutes this in her account here. Speaking no English or Irish, the young Máire now went to live in Scoil Íte, her aunt's school in Cork. For the young Máire this was a very strange world indeed. Now she had to learn both Irish and English, her Irish being perfected by long annual holidays in the west Kerry Gaeltacht near Dunquin. And then, in 1945, she married Ruairi Brugha, the son of another famous republican, Cathal Brugha, thus uniting two of Ireland's most prominent and revered nationalist families. Throughout her life, both before marriage and later with her husband, Máire has handled a complex inheritance and forged her own strong identity. She and her husband have reinterpreted their unique inheritance in keeping their own time and their own mindset while retaining strong links to their unusual history.

The Girl Nobody Wants

Author: Lilly O'Brien
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
ISBN: 1780880332
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 249

Book Description
You only get one chance to live your life as a child, but Lily was never given that chance; her childhood was taken from her before it ever begun. From the age of four, when she was first sexually abused, her life changed forever; when she walked through the institution’s doors in Ireland, her life continued along the same path that has destroyed her soul. Her emotional pain is as strong today as it was the day it began and will never leave her alone.“When I go to sleep it’s in my head and when I wake up I can see it in the mirror and I am only waiting to die.” A child abuse story that will stay with you forever and one that you will talk about for many years to come, The Girl Nobody Wants is a harrowing true story that will appeal to fans of biographies and fans of Jodi Picoult. It has been compared to Dave Pelzer’s A Child Called It, Damaged by Cathy Glass and The Kid by Kevin Lewis.

Kings of September

Author: Michael Foley
Publisher: O'Brien Press
ISBN: 9781847171184
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 317

Book Description
On the 19th September 1982 Kerry ran out in Croke Park chasing immortality. Victory over Offaly in the All-Ireland football final would secure them five titles in a row, a record certain never to be matched again. It had taken Offaly six heartbreaking years under manager Eugene McGee to drag themselves up from their lowest ebb, but now they stood on the cusp of a glorious reward. The result was a classic final that changed lives and dramatically altered the course of gaelic football history. The Kings of September is an epic story of triumph and loss, joy and tragedy, a story of two teams who illuminated a grim period in Irish life and enthralled a nation.

Unpacking the Boxes

Author: Donald Hall
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN: 9780547247946
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 212

Book Description
Former United States poet laureate Donald Hall reflects on his life, discussing his childhood in Connecticut, the works that influenced him, his education, his success and failures as a writer and father, his friendships, and other related topics.