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  • Norwegian Wood, and Rubber Dinghies (from Hindi dingi ‘small boat’ )

    The Beatles song always struck me as strangely titled. Wikipedia informs me it refers to the wood panelling in a house in London, where John Lennon was conducting an affair. The novel I am working on at the moment ‘Burning Down The House’ has its final dramatic scenes in The Baltic Triangle. It is an… Continue reading

  • The road to publication…is ‘class’ an issue?

    I am waiting for an email from a publisher, either of the first two paragraphs below could be true come Monday morning. Scenario AI am really happy to be able to report that an independent publisher has agreed to publish Under The Bridge, although I am sure there will many details to be worked out.… Continue reading

  • A Truly Irish and British Thriller

    The headline above, and the quote below are both from reviews of my novel Under The Bridge “Written for adult audiences, this thrilling novel explores class distinctions, nationality, identity, and the dynamics of power by combining historical and contemporary content for its mystery plot.” You can read the full reviews here https://jackbyrne.home.blog/under-the-bridge/ They mark the… Continue reading

  • The Ragged Arsed Philanthropists

    Philanthropist noun noun: philanthropist; plural noun: philanthropists a person who seeks to promote the welfare of others, especially by the generous donation of money to good causes. ‘Ragged Arsed,’ sounds much more authentic. Robert Tressell or Noonan on his mother’s side left a legacy of a book first published in 1914 but credited by some with ‘helping… Continue reading

  • Another Crash?

    Fifty-five years ago this week, on 20 July 1965 a there was an event that shocked the people of Speke and Garston. In a way, it was a foreshadowing of what the recession of the seventies would do to the industry in the area. In this case, it was a Cambrian Airlines plane that had… Continue reading

  • Reds on top again?

    Congratulations to Liverpool and all the club’s fans. I am not a big football supporter. I wasn’t as a kid, and am not now. There was a period when I followed Everton quite closely, but it was mainly to be able to talk to my dad who was a big blues fan. Toward the end… Continue reading

  • A Day in the life…40 years from home.

    Two songs a world apart, or are they? “He blew his mind out in a car.” The Beatles song A Day in The Life references the death of Tara Browne an Irish socialite, heir to the Guinness fortune, who had a house in Luggalo, County Wicklow and died in England in a car crash in… Continue reading

  • The Blue Union

    The Blue Union

    Many from Garston will remember the blue union as a social club on Window Lane and a football team that played in the Sunday league, a team that was the starting point for some famous names like Jimmy Case. For decades it played a role in the social life of people Under The Bridge. It… Continue reading

  • Humanity Restored

    Humanity Restored

    Robert Burns poem called Man was made to mourn: A Dirge in 1784. ‘Man’s inhumanity to man’ The response to the murder of George Floyd for most people has been an overwhelming rejection of the racism that ended his life. The casual denial of his humanity, and as police knelt on his neck it brought back all the… Continue reading

About Me

Thanks for visiting my page. The aim of this page is to let you know what I am working on and allow you to tell me what you think.

I was born and raised in Speke Liverpool, although my parents first lived ‘Under The Bridge’ in Garston, and all my family goes back to Wicklow in Ireland.

The Liverpool Mystery series will be four novels, three books; Under The Bridge, The Morning After, and Fire Next Time are finished. Under The Bridge will be published in Feb 2021 and I hope at least one more will follow later in the year. I am writing The Wicklow Boys now, and I hope to finish it next year.

My writing like my blog is about the lives of working people and how they relate to society as a whole.

My collection of short stories The One Road is available below click to see details.