Tom Maguire, Donal Ryan, John Connell, Sean Hayes, Cathaoirleach of Longford County Council Peggy Nolan, Barbara Heslin and Paula Mulry (Acting County Librarian) at the launch of John’s third and final book, The Stream of Everything, in Longford Library last Wednesday night PICTURES: SHELLEY CORCORAN When Ballinalee author John Connell launched The Cow Book in 2018, Longford Library was packed and the supply of books actually ran out as eager readers rushed to grab a signed copy. The Soran man’s second offering, The Running Book, was released in 2020 and, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and in line with government restrictions, did not have a large launch. But, as the world starts to return to normal and people start to get out and about again, John was thrilled to see a large crowd returning to Longford Library last Wednesday night for the launch of this third and final book, The Stream of Everything. The three memoirs were aptly referred to as the ‘Longford trilogy’ last Wednesday night, with each relating to the county, its people and the author’s connection to and love for his homeland. “They say we are new people every seven years,” said John, addressing those present at the launch, “well my friends, I am a new man for I have been seven years at home now. “Longford to me then was an unknown place. But I have come to see that we live not just in the midlands, but the middle kingdom. That in this place, we are the meeting place of this land, where the water and stone have shaped us into the people we are. That it has permeated, not just the stone, but our souls. This is my final memoir, the final book in a trilogy - the Longford trilogy - where I have made my home and where I have made sense of the world that I live through and the world I have come to make my own.” Speaking to the crowd last week, which included a number of local politicians, members of the clergy, friends and family as well as many members of the local community, John acknowledged the people who were not present -
PICTURES | John Connell's The Stream of Everything is a love letter to Longford
Cllr PJ Reilly, Cllr Turlough McGovern, author John Connell, Cllr Peggy Nolan, Cllr Seamus Butler, Cllr Martin Monaghan and Cllr Remu Adejinmi
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Tom, Javine, Linda, John, Margaret and Tom Connell at the launch of John's third and final book, The Stream of Everything, which took place in Longford Library last Wednesday night
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Pat McGivney, John Connell, Ronan O'Toole and Sinead Flanery pictured at Longford Library last week
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In Longford County Library on Wednesday evening, May 4 for the launch of John Connell's new book 'The Stream of Everything' were Ashley Westpheling, Mathew Tevlin, John Connell (author) and Aaron Broyde
