The Lighthouse Keeper’s Wife - Limerick native debuts her first novel

AN AUTHOR who became inspired to write having grown up in Limerick is releasing her first novel.

June O’Sullivan spent much of her childhood in Newcastle West and Knockaderry.

She is set to release her debut novel on the first week of February, called The Lighthouse Keeper’s Wife, a fictional story set in 1867 on the island of Skellig Michael in Co Kerry.

Drawing on her own life and a deep fascination with history, June has crafted a story that captures the isolation, tension, and resilience of a family living in one of Ireland’s most remote and unforgiving environments.

June’s early years were steeped in books and storytelling. Moving to Newcastle West as a one-year-old, she spent her formative years on a sheep farm near the village of Knockaderry.

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Her stepfather Joe was a mechanic and her mother Vickie grew flowers and vegetables to sell to supermarkets. Later, her mother worked part-time at a bookshop.

“The bookshop owner was a county councillor and later a senator, Mary Kelly, so my mother held the fort,” June said.

The family’s connection to books deepened when her mother and sister opened their own bookshop, a venture that lasted over a decade and closed in 2018.

“I spent many hours in the shop reading second-hand comics and books,” June said. “They used to sell 3 second-hand comics rolled together for, I think, 50p.”

Explaining that she was a “voracious reader all [her] life”, June continued on by saying her love of reading was the only thing that got her “ in trouble”.

“In school, sometimes I would be so immersed in reading that I wouldn’t hear the teacher’s instructions!” she said.

Her passion for literature eventually led her to study English and French at University College Cork (UCC) and an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Limerick (UL).

The seed for her debut novel was planted during a visit to Skellig Michael, 2014.

The island, situated 12 miles off the Kerry coast, has a storied history as a monastic settlement and, later, as the site of a lighthouse.

Struck by the island’s beauty and the graves in its ancient monastery, June began researching the lives of those who had lived there.

“I found a letter from principal keeper, William Callaghan, which he sent to Irish Lights – requesting permission to leave the island with his family.

“The desperation in the letter led me to imagine what might have happened, and how he might have reached the point where he could no longer stay.”

Set in 1867, The Lighthouse Keeper’s Wife follows Eliza Carthy, who moves to Skellig Michael with her husband, James, a newly-promoted principal keeper, and their two sons.

The family must navigate life on the jagged, 54-acre rock, exposed to Atlantic storms and cut off from the mainland except for occasional supply boats. When a second lighthouse keeper and his wife arrive, the tension between the two families becomes palpable, threatening Eliza’s sanity and her family’s safety.

“I focused the narrative on the wife of a lighthouse keeper, someone who would have had little say in the decision to move to the island, but who would have borne the brunt of the emotional impact on the whole family in the move to somewhere so challenging,” June said.

The debut author now lives on Valentia Island, Co Kerry, with her husband and three children. Her life there echoes the themes of her novel: resilience, connection to the past, and the beauty of living on the edge of the world. She is currently working on her second novel, inspired by a pioneering female aviator from Knockaderry.

The Lighthouse Keeper’s Wife is a testament to June’s roots in Limerick, her passion for history, and her dedication to storytelling.

With her evocative prose, June is a historical fiction writer worth keeping an eye on.