travel
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White Riot
Order White Riot The flags are flying, people are out on the streets, celebrating, fighting, protesting. The LFC supporter and Red Detective Charlie Connolly and his partner Amina move into an old house, a house with as much history as the city they live in. A weird statue is found in the cellar, and their… Continue reading
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Shanghai’d
The first time I heard of the expulsion of hundreds of Chinese Seamen from Liverpool following WW2, I knew I wanted to write about it. My novel Shanghai’d will be published by Northodox Press this week, it is a story that spans generations and continents as we follow families who to this day search for… Continue reading
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The Emigrant’s Story
Sculpture by Bruno Catalano Jack Byrne told David Hennessy about his Liverpool Mysteries series of books that look at Irish immigration to Liverpool including anti- Irish sentiment and sectarianism. We shouldn’t have a romantic idea of this city that could not have St Patrick’s parades between 70s and 1990s. Author Jack Byrne explores Liverpool’s unique… Continue reading
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‘Ballykissangel’ and ‘The Meetings’ deep in the Garden of Ireland
Drawn by William Henry Bartlett and engraved by J.C. Bentley. My dad who was from Wicklow, once told me in Liverpool that one of his favourite places in Ireland was ‘The Meeting of the Waters.’ Since my dad rarely spoke of Ireland, this was memorable, and certainly the phrase ‘meeting of the waters’ has its… Continue reading
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The Boys of Dungeon Lane Part 2
From ‘Across The Water’ published by Northodox Pressbook 2 of The Liverpool Mysteries 1974 and Paddy a character from Across The Water is panicking. He kept the door open with his foot to combat the smell of piss and held the coin above the slot. Once it dropped, there’d be no going back. Beep… beep…… Continue reading
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The Boys of Dungeon Lane 1
Before The Storm published by Northodox Press Excerpt of Chapter 1311.30am, Friday, June 3rd, 1981 The kid was scrambling back up the slope. Sammo stepped outand started moving towards him.‘Sammo,’ Macca shouted. ‘Wait. What are you doing?’Sammo didn’t wait. Vinny watched, impressed by Sammo’sindependence, as he ran to the top of the slope.Macca waited, then… Continue reading
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A Contested City
My first three books Under The Bridge, Across The Water, and Before The Storm, The Liverpool Mysteries deal with times from the 50s to 2010 in Garston and Speke. Before The Storm shows the rise of a Reform type Councillor in Speke, a nationalist with the constant refrain ‘Stop the boats.’ Whatever is wrong in… Continue reading
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Liverpool and Slavery
This website brings the city’s history to life, reminding us that the streets we walk were paved and made from the profits of slavery and the industries that relied on it. Check out the maps, join the walks, or share with friends. *text from Liverpool and slavery website Liverpool’s history is deeply intertwined with the… Continue reading
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Irish Eyes – Special Offer
By Mattie Lennon UNDER THE BRIDGE I told you last month that I was starting to read Under the Bridge, the first of Jack Byrne’s trilogy, which covers a hundred years of the connection between Liverpool and the author’s ancestral home of Wicklow. The other two are Across the Water and Before the Storm. After the first few pages I… Continue reading
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Cries of pain
A symphony of pain or a discordant melody I’m not sure which is closer. As the bus bounced and jolted through the Irish countryside pain played its tune. Bass notes were constant and would rumble and vibrate while the higher ones danced and darted here and there, my left arm was immobile. The hand trembled,… 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.
