Westport writer’s four-book launch a world record

NEW RECORD Liam Friel with the four books he will be launching this Sunday.


Ciara Moynihan

Local author, poet and artist Liam Friel is launching not one but four books online this Sunday evening, March 21. A feat so extraordinary it has been certified as an Official World Record for the most books published on the same day by an author.
As with so much of our lives these days, the launch will be held on Zoom.
Liam Friel was born in Oughty, Drummin, Westport, on April 12, 1961. He was the youngest in a family of five boys born to Patrick J and Mairéad Friel.
He is a third-generation poet and historian. His grandfather Patrick Tunney was one of the most renowned Irish poets and writers of the last century. He was born in Derrykillew, Westport, in 1879. He was a prolific writer, and over his lifetime he penned and published over two-hundred ballads and poems which have been recited, recorded, and performed many times. He captured the history of Ireland’s struggle for freedom as it unfolded in front of him and of his time spent in prison. That portion of his writings was included in ‘’Tis Érin I Love Best’, first published by Liam Friel in 2016.
Liam Friel’s, mother, Mairéad Friel (nee Tunney) was a gifted poet much loved by all who read and recited her lyrical poems and ballads. Mairéad was born in Derrykillew, Westport, on March 21, 1921. Liam published a full collection of her work in ‘The Poetry and Life of Mairéad Friel’ in 2014.
This Sunday marks centenary of Mairéad Friel’s birth, and it is the reason why he chose this date for the upcoming launches.
He tells The Mayo News: “On the March 21, 1921, in an Ireland that was gripped in fear, where the RIC policed the land, where The Black and Tans terrorised the people. Ireland was a divided nation.
“My mother’s dad, Pat Tunney was in jail in Galway, but he got a ten-day release. The Black and Tans raided their home just hours after Nora Tunney had given birth to a little baby girl. The Black and Tans threatened to execute Pat Tunney, they beat his mother (Margaret Tunney) with the butts of their guns, they broke her delft from the dresser, they smashed and burned her spinning-wheel. They pulled the bedclothes of the mother and her new born baby. That baby was my mother.
“And that’s why I honour her by commemorating her birth, her life and her inspiration. I dedicate these books and this launch to her memory.”

The books
The four books are ‘Gaeldom is Bleeding with Emigration’, ‘Freedom and Right Will Conquer Might’, ‘Taking Cover’ and ‘In The Balance’.
‘Gaeldom is Bleeding with Emigration’ and ‘Freedom and Right will Conquer Might’ will form a trilogy of books written by Liam Friel about his grandfather, Patrick Tunney.
These books detail his grandfather’s fight to save the Gaeltacht, his desire to halt emigration, his support for Gaelic football, his drive to resurrect Irish industries, factories, and commerce, the ideals of Ireland’s dead, Mayo’s fighting story and more.
‘In The Balance’ and ‘Taking Cover’ are a social history in verse. They record the characters and events, the fun and the frolics of work, rest and play. Over 600 characters and events feature, alongside plenty of humour. The poems are composed in the old metre of An AmhrΡin, with four stressed syllables in each line, giving them that recognisable Irish lilt.

Launch attendees must be invited in to the zoom session by the organiser and places are limited. Anyone interested in attending should e-mail the author on liamfriel61@gmail.com to request admittance.