Offaly born writer of Pure Mule to launch debut novel

Eugene O'Brien is set to launch his first novel called 'Going Back'

placeholder image — Eugene O'Brien is set to launch his first novel called 'Going Back'

A debut novel by Eugene O'Brien, the writer of the popular TV drama Pure Mule, will be released later this month.

'Going Back' continues the story of much-loved Scobie Donoghue, star of the award winning series which was filmed in Birr, Banagher, and Tullamore.

Tackling the issues of gambling addiction, drug abuse in small town Ireland, coercive control and stigma around male mental health, the Edenderry born author shows he very must still has his finger on the pulse of modern Ireland.

Scobie Donoghue was once the king of Friday, Saturday and Sunday night, famous for the craic and the drink. A loveable rogue, the lads wanted to be him and the girls wanted to be with him. But now he's turning 40, looking burnt out and depressed, and back in the town he thought he had left behind forever.

Like so many young Irish men, Scobie spent his twenties working on building sites during the Celtic tiger, making good money and spending it on wild weekends. But Scobie, despite his best efforts, is no longer in his twenties. He can't understand how life seems to be leaving him behind. Shattered from a recent break-up with a woman who seemed to understand him. Scobie returns from Australia to his midlands home town, no longer a king – back with his mammy, back to his old single bed in the room that hasn't changed since he was a teenager.

Can Scobie Donoghue change? It will take time and a lot of soul searching, but maybe he is finally ready to grow up?

Eugene O'Brien is the writer of the critically acclaimed TV drama Pure Mule, which won five IFTA Awards.

The show was inspired by his play Eden, which debuted at the Abbey and has since played the West End and Off Broadway; It won the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 2003. The film adaptation won Best Actress for Eileen Walsh at the Tribeca Film Festival. A new play Heaven, set in the same fictional midland town debuts at the 2022 Dublin Theatre Festival. Eugene is a regular columnist with the Sunday Independent. This is his first novel.

Going Back will be published by Gill Books on Thursday September 29, 2022.