….A County Kerry Compendium by Owen O’Shea and Gordon Revington
Scandals, punch-ups, election-campaign shenanigans, bitter inter-dynastic contests and the stories of the ground-breaking politicians from Kerry who made their mark on the national stage and beyond, feature in a new book from Kerry authors Owen O’Shea and Gordon Revington, which will be launched at Tralee Library on this Thursday evening at 7pm.
Since the establishment of Dáil Éireann 100 years ago, Kerry’s political history has taken many lively, colourful and compelling turns – largely thanks to its wide roster of fascinating politicians, from Austin Stack to Kathleen O’Connor and John Marcus O’Sullivan to Dick Spring.
Original Research
Drawing on original research, newly published material from the political parties’ archives and candid interviews, A Century of Politics in the Kingdom is published to coincide with the centenary of the First Dáil. Owen O’Shea and Gordon Revington mine a unique political environment.
They contend with the dramatic and entertaining episodes, and with equal depth they outline the controversies and seminal debates as well as the vociferous character of Kerry’s TDs, senators and political hopefuls over the past century.
Several Kerry Ministers
From the first sitting of Dáil Éireann, when Piaras Béaslaí TD read its Democratic Programme, to Dan Kiely’s Supreme Court challenge on how votes are counted in Ireland, and the role of several Kerry ministers in sensitive Anglo-Irish negotiations, Kerry politicians have been at the heart of matters nationally, both symbolic and significant.
Even if, as is continually attested, they have had to shout a little louder than many of their counterparts to have their priorities heard, Kerry politicians have indelibly influenced the course of Irish politics and left a lasting legacy in their home county.
Plying Voters with Drink
Remarkable tales, like the councillor who was unseated for plying voters with drink, the North Kerry woman who became a politician in Pakistan, the aristocrat who was invited to Buckingham Palace as a child and went on to become the first woman elected to Kerry County Council, the Kerry senator who received an apology from the BBC, the story of all of Kerry’s female politicians, the councillor who took his own council to court, the night the gardaí were called to a meeting of a Fianna Fáil cumann in North Kerry, and the Dáil by-election candidate deselected because he wasn’t popular enough, all feature.
All Good Bookshops
Featuring the first ever definitive record of every Kerry Oireachtas member since 1919, A Century of Politics in the Kingdom captures the excitement and tension, the rivalries and resentments, the key debates and discussions, and the good old-fashioned fun and games that have characterised the political cauldron in the county over the last century.
The new book will be launched by former Tánaiste, Dick Spring at Tralee Library on this Thursday 18th October 2018 at 7.00pm.
The book will be available from the middle of this week in all good bookshops, online, and from www.merrionpress.ie, as well as the launch on Thursday (RRP €19.99)
About the Authors
Owen O’Shea, from Milltown, Co Kerry, is Communications Officer with Kerry County Council. A former Labour Party press officer and election candidate, he was a journalist with Kerry’s Eye and Radio Kerry. He is the author of Heirs to the Kingdom: Kerry’s Political Dynasties (2011) and co-editor of Kerry 1916: Histories and Legacies of the Easter Rising (2016).
Gordon Revington, from Tralee, Co Kerry, is a journalist with Kerry’s Eye who writes on Irish political history, rural affairs and sport.
He contributed to Kerry 1916: Histories and Legacies of the Easter Rising (2016).
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