Local author dedicates his ‘uplifting’ new book inspired by the Limerick countryside to his son
The book took inspiration from his natural surroundings in Dromcollogher-Broadford
AFTER seven years of writing, Broadford native Taidhg McCarthy has published a children’s book, dedicated to his own son.
Taidhg, who goes by the nickname-turned-pen name of Tiger Man, was heavily inspired by his surroundings in the countryside parish of Dromcollogher-Broadford, the nearby Springfield Castle, and Gleann na gCapall, while writing his book, Bubbles: The Beggar’s Lifeline.
The book, which is heavily intertwined with nature as a result, is set in a “great forest” in the fantastical Hill of the Blackthorn, where the narrative character, the beggar, “owns everything as far as the eye can see”.
Taidhg explained: “He used to collect the fallen stars from the city when he'd be begging, and these stars became horse chestnuts, which he then planted within his area. And so, he surrounded himself by a great forest, a great wood, and he lives within this wood and this hill where he lives on, is known as the hill of the blackthorn”.
The beggar was “all about himself”, Taidhg described: “Before he’d do anything for anyone, he would always say ‘What’s in it for me?’”.
“But one night he was asked for one act of kindness, to care for a child he called Bubbles. Bubbles was gifted to him from Destiny, and that's how the whole story begins.”
“There's two worlds out there,” said Taidhg, “One is where people are born into a world that gives them everything they need, and another world that is a world for everybody else that doesn't know when they're half enough. So that's how we split the two worlds: the beggar represents a world that gives you everything you need, and the child is seen as a symbol that doesn't know when it is half enough.”
“I wrote (the book) for seven years in a shed that was kind of slipping into the quarry and was leaking, so I was under pressure,” he explained. “I used to write from twelve o'clock at midnight and I used to write straight through the night and I'd come out of the shed in the morning and see the rising of the morning sun.”
The inscription on the first few pages of the book reads: “This book is dedicated to my son David. No longer am I a ghost within such windswept corridors.”
His son David is now 16, but was nine when Taidhg began writing, inspired by his youthful wonderment of his surroundings.
Taidhg also gives “A special thanks to the rising of the Maureen sun, for its kind listening watch”.
In keeping with the natural theme of the book, the cover was “designed around flowers I grow”, Taidhg explained.
“We captured the seven most popular colours and we used them in the cover of the book, because people are not actually buying flowers, they’re buying colour to make themselves, I suppose to make yourself feel good about yourself - people are actually buying colour.”
The book is being sold internationally, with copies of the book being available to purchase online from Walmart, Everand and Barnes & Noble.
Amazon currently has both paperback and Kindle editions available on their website, and Kindle readers can get a glimpse of what to expect from the book with a free sample, which enables them to read the first chapter for no cost.
Taidhg added that readers can also purchase the book in O’Mahony’s in Limerick and select Eason stores - including shops in Limerick, Tralee and Ennis - and there's an intention to sell the book nationwide in the New Year.
On getting his book on the shelves, Taidhg explained that he walked into O’Mahony’s to request that the shop would stock his story, and was asked by a member of staff: “Tell me about the book”.
“So I told her about the book,” he said, “and do you know what she said? ‘I like you, but I like the book better. I'll take 20’!”
Years in the making, Taidhg said that overcoming a “fear of failure” was what drove his success with the book, adding that he finds it “very hard to believe” sometimes that he actually completed the story and successfully got it published: “I still feel I didn't write the bloody thing!”
Bubbles: The Beggar’s Lifeline is the first book in a five-part series, with the second installation already written and currently being reviewed by editors in the UK, Taidhg explained.
Every word Taidhg utters is filled with obvious pride as he discusses the book, which, he feels, is “a celebration of Christmas” and a “very uplifting” story that “people love”.