Choose any of the books to purchase to find out more
Memories of an Irish Country Boy
By Noel Caulfield
This book is a snapshot of rural Ireland in the fifties and sixties as seen by a young boy growing up on a farm in Co Offaly. The author’s keen eye brings to light the daily challenge of a couple raising a young family in an era of subsistence farming. Yet, instead of providing a morose account of how tough life was in those days, Noel Caulfield’s optimistic nature, humour and writing craft brings the readers along effortlessly through the twists and turns of his narrative. The result is a genuinely warm memoir that will also serve as a historic signpost for future generations.
Price - €14.99 (£14.99)
Without You: Living with Loss
By Various authors, compiled and edited by Orlaith Carmody
Ballpoint Press has launched a new book Without You, Living with Loss (€14.99). The new publication is an intimate collection of letters to loved ones who have passed away. Proceeds from the book will go directly to Our Lady’s Hospice in Harold’s Cross and Blackrock Hospice in Dublin.
The book is compiled and edited by Orlaith Carmody and aims to provide comfort and solace to anyone who has experienced a bereavement. The heart-warming collection includes letters from Phil Lynott’s mother, Philomena; Dermot Morgan’s son, Rob and Gloria Hunniford writing about her daughter, Caron Keating as well as many well-known names from from the media, arts, business, music, sport and politics.
Price - €14.99 (£14.99)
From the Candy Store to the Galtymore
By Various Authors, Edited by PJ Cunningham & Dr. Joe Kearney
‘From The Candy Store Stories To The Galtymore’ is an anthology of stories from the golden age of the Irish Showband era that stretched from the 1950s to the 1970s.
The book is a collection with twist. It looks at this era, left of centre, collecting the forgotten, overlooked or rarely told stories of that time. The publication itself is a collection of small stories written and told by ‘ordinary’ folk, singers, musicians, band managers etc Joe and PJ trawled the country for these stories (over the past year or more) to bring them all together in one book.
Price - €14.99 (£14.99)
That's Right: You're Fired!
By Tim Healy
This book tracks the evolution of football management from the earliest days of the secretary/ manager to the current superstar managers. It brings the readers through the lives of the greatest managers from Chapman to Guttman, from Mangnall to Mourinho.
It provides a studied insight into how football management has changed since the introduction of professional football in the late 19th Century.
Price - €14.99 (£)
The Best of Billy Keane
By Billy Keane
The Best of Billy Keane showcases the Irish Independent columnist’s range of writing and understated perception. Keane is the observer at the front door looking out on middle Ireland as it goes about its daily chores.
Whether it’s a family sadness, a quirky day in the pub or a national issue of suicide or gay marriage, his inimitable style is rarely less than insightful and always thought provoking. Keane’s has the rare writing gift of finding extraordinary deeds in day-to-day living before presenting them with an equal mix of humour and empathy.
About the author - Billy Keane (59) is a well-known publican and writer from Listowel, Co Kerry. His columns in the Irish Independent have become ‘must reads’ for thousands of readers. Married with four children, he is the eldest son of Mary, who died last year, and John B, who died in 2002.The Best Of Billy Keane is published by Ballpoint Press Ltd and is now available in all good bookshops nationwide.
Price - €14.99 (£12.50)
Then There Was Light
By PJ Cunningham and Dr Joe Kearney (Editors)
‘Then there was light’ is a unique collection from a wide range of contributors recalling their memories and experiences of the Rural Electrification scheme which was rolled from the mid-1940s across Ireland.
The stories provide a valuable snapshot of the time when Ireland left the dark ages as ESB brought light into the midst of even the most remote communities.
This book celebrates the 70th anniversary of the commencement of the Rural Electrification scheme which then ran through the 1950s,’60s and into the 1970s.
Price - €14.99 (£12.99)
Country Wide: A Collection of the best writing by RTÉ presenter Damien O'Reilly
By Damien O'Reilly
A collection of the best writing by RTE presenter, Damien O’Reilly, in his weekly Irish Farmers Journal column.
Damien O’Reilly is the award-winning presenter of the popular Saturday morning RTE Radio 1 show – Countrywide. Allthough brought up in Castleknock, Co Dublin, he is the son of country parents and spent all of his holiday time as a young boy and teenager on his father’s family farm in Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan. From there, he inherited an interest and love of all things rural which persists to this day.
This book is a collection of his writings for the Journal as well as recalling how a city boy grew up to become a commentator the affairs of country life.
Price - €14.99 (£12.99)
Living The Green Platform
By Declan Coyle
Living The Green Platform: Simply Life Changing
In his bestselling book, The Green Platform, author Declan Coyle revealed the step-by-step tools we can use to achieve significant and lasting positive change in our lives when times are tough or when we just want more from life. Now in Living The Green Platform, Declan expands our understanding of how these insights and simple techniques have influenced and inspired so many people to achieve exceptional success in their lives.
The power of this truly inspirational book is that it relates honest and sincere stories of people who made the daily choice to live on the Green Platform and who became more joyful, innovative and creative people in the process.
It shows all of us how we can do it too!
Price - €14.99 (£10.99)
The Goal Getter
By Gerry Duffy
Gerry Duffy’s new book ‘The Goal Getter’ is one of the most accessible and motivating books you will pick up this year! Simply a must have.
Price - €14.99 (£10.99)
A fly Never Lit
By PJ Cunningham
P. J. Cunningham’s new book ‘A fly never Lit’ is the third in a trilogy about growing up in the rural Ireland of the second half of the last century. It follows on ‘The Lie Of The Land’ (2024) and ‘The Long Acre’ which last year was shortlisted for Bord Gais Energy Irish Book Of The Year in 2014.
The current collection are of stories which shine a light on a past generation growing up in the heartland of Ireland.
Price - €14.99 (£10.99)
Running Full Circle
By Frank Greally
The book traces Frank’s emergence in the 1960s as a prodigious talent in his native Mayo, his turbulent years as a homesick scholarship athlete in East Tennessee — where he majored in English Literature and journalism as well as ‘music and moonshine’ — and his subsequent struggles with depression and alcohol.
It also documents a lifelong love affair not only with athletics but also with words and includes warmly drawn portraits of the many – runners as well as writers – who along the way influenced and inspired him.
Price - €14.99 (£10.99)
***SOLD OUT***
By Various Authors, Edited by PJ Cunningham
Unfortunately, due to its popularity, ‘Around the Farm Gate’ is currently sold out of its current print. We hope to have more in as soon as possible. It is still available on Kindle- please click here to purchase from the Amazon store.
Around The Farm Gate is a unique collection of 50 stories about rural Irish life set at the crossroads between tradition and modernity in the latter part of the twentieth century. These stories are a snapshot in time as they capture the activities of people striving to earn their daily bread in different settings across the country. This book offers a rare glimpse of recent Irish history, encapsulating and preserving the traditions of several generations in a rapidly disappearing rural landscape.
Price - €14.99 (£10.99)
Perform as a Leader - Available Now!
By Orlaith Carmody
Perform As A Leader gives you a step-by-step guide on how to communicate and lead effectively. The book is an essential tool for anyone who wants to grow individually as a leader or manager, speaker or teacher, role model or influencer.
-Presenting and public speaking powerfully and confidently
-Becoming a persuasive and memorable media performer
-Chairing and leading successful meetings and negotiations Coaching and motivating teams to excel
-Pitching to win business
You will also discover how to eliminate self-limiting obstacles and nervousness, so you can step up and achieve your dreams.
Perform as a leader is published on September 24th.
Price - €14.99 (£10.99)
A Different Shade of Green- The Alan McLoughlin Story
By Bryce Evans
Alan McLoughlin famously scored the equalising goal against Northern Ireland on that weird and wonderful November night at Windsor Park in 1993 –a goal that gave Jack Charlton’s Republic of Ireland a rite of passage to the World Cup in the USA the following summer. Now for the first time, McLoughlin recalls his time in the Irish camp, how he railed at being described as a ‘Plastic Paddy’ and details how he subsequently overcame professional and personal adversity – including cancer – after hanging up his boots
Price - €14.99 (£11.50)
The Furlongs
By Pat Nolan
Pat Nolan traces the history of the Furlong family from a life on the run in Wexford during the war of independence to new surroundings in Tullamore, Co Offaly where the brothers grew up - and then a flight to America where the name became famous in GAA and American Football circles.
The Furlong story is at once both typical and unique in Irish sporting life – on the one hand a band of brothers became a focal point in a success-starved county and were pivotal in the honours that followed while, on the other hand, unique in how one member of the family went on to achieve fame in another sport in the USA.
Price - €14.99 (£11.50)
The Green Platform
By Declan Coyle
Declan Coyle’s well proven techniques have transformed the lives of thousands of people who were unnecessarily making their lives more unhappy, frustrated, angry or fearful and preventing them from reaching their goals and dreams.
In the Green Platform, the Internationally renowned motivational speaker and mentor reveals the four simple steps to switch our thinking from Red to Green and to open up options and possibilities in our lives.
His unique insights into how our minds work and his simple steps to change our perceptions from negative to positive was developed through his understanding of psychology and work with thousands of people living ordinary lives, as well as CEOs, management teams, sporting stars and many facing crisis and challenges in their lives.
In this book, Declan gives us the secrets to never having another bad day.
Price - €14.99 (£14.98)
The Lie of the Land
By PJ Cunningham
The book The Lie Of The Land is an account of the lives, loves,
hatreds, failings and greatness of ordinary people based loosely on the social history of actual events.
Price - €14.99 (£11.50)
The Long Acre
By PJ Cunningham
The stories in The Long Acre come from the heartland of Ireland and are a sequel to the author’s acclaimed book from last year, ‘The Lie of the Land’, which charted the vicissitudes of growing up on a farm in the midlands during a rapidly changing Ireland of the sixties and seventies. This latest book traces the daily travails and triumphs of a past generation dealing with life in and around ‘The Long Acre.’
Price - €14.99 (£11.50)
The GAA in My Time
By Eugene McGee
Ireland’s foremost GAA analyst this Thursday reflects on over 50 years activity on and off the field. As a writer, manager of UCD, Offaly and Ireland international rules teams as well as a recent Chairman of the Football Development Committee, Eugene McGee is uniquely placed to cast an eye across the GAA world and comment with honesty, accuracy and more than a little prescience. Eschewing the usual autobiographical route, McGee instead reveals many untold stories while giving his view of the big controversies and the behind the scenes activities which he witnessed personally over a half century. He has played a series of diverse role at all levels in the Association as a mentor, manager, commentator and innovator through his recent involvement as Chairman of the Football Review Committee (FRC).
Price - €16.99 (£13.50)
THE GODFATHER OF MODERN HURLING
By Enda McEvoy
THE BOOK
“What made the book a pleasure to research and write was the fact that so many people had such good things to say about Monsignor Maher,” Mr McEvoy reveals. “One phrase recurred. ‘A man before his time.’ He was, simply, a genius, yet at the same time a very humble person.”
Among the former Kilkenny stars quoted in the book are Paddy Buggy, Sean Clohosey, Johnny McGovern, Dick Rockett, Seamus Cleere, Pa Dillon, Tom Walsh, Pat Henderson, Chunky O’Brien, Mick Crotty, Kieran Purcell and Noel Skehan.
THE AUTHOR
One of the most important GAA books - The Godfather of Modern Hurling is the biography of Monsignor Tommy Maher, who helped the county to win seven All Ireland senior titles during his 21 years (1957-78) as coach. The book, which weighs in at a hefty 100,000-plus words, was written by award-winning sportswriter Enda McEvoy, former the hurling correspondent of the Sunday Tribune and now a columnist with the Irish Examiner.
Price - €14.99 (£12.50)
THERE IS AN 'F' IN HURLING
By Aidan Lenehan
THE BOOK
One of the sporting books which certainly comes under the classification of ‘different’ is Aidan Lenehan’s ‘There is An F In Hurling’ which was launched late last year.
This is the story of how a Galway man living in an overwhelmingly football heartland of North county Dublin decided to start up a hurling team with the Wild Geese club. The book traces how he himself began playing again at 37 and how he cajoled older and younger friends and footballers from the vicinity to join in his pilgrimage.
It wasn’t all plain sailing either as having started out in the Dublin E junior ranks, they hit the dizzy ranks of F- grade (hence the title of the book) before the influx of younger players saw them move back up in the hurling world.
The book is not just about creating an oasis for the national game where none previously existed - it faithfully recounts daily club life and the efforts to maintain enthusiasm for a project as the lure of Gaelic football and soccer see numbers sometimes whittled down to the minimum. It is an account of the ‘ordinary plenty’ of the GAA world which will resonate with anyone who has either played or supported a club team.
Price - €14.99 (£12.50)
WHO DARES,RUNS
By Gerry Duffy
One man’s inspirational journey where he went from being 50 lbs overweight and smoking 40 cigarettes a day to running 32 Marathons in consecutive 32 Days in Ireland last year.
‘Who Dares, Runs’ is a story of courage and daring containing precious insights into how the human existence can be transformed by searching for the hero inside of ourself.
The book is as much about running as Moby Dick is about a whale. It is a brilliantly written story on self-motivation and taking charge of one’s own destiny - and ultimately fulfilling it.
By undertaking such an incredible feat, Gerry also spearheaded a drive which raised over half a million euro.
Price - €14.99 (£12.50)
Can you Manage?
By Tim Healy
THE BOOK
THIS BOOK is designed as a blueprint for managers or aspiring managers seeking clearly-defined methods in how to look after a football, hurling or club team across a variety of sports. While there has been a plethora of GAA books on coaching, Can You Manage? blazes a trail by focusing the spotlight on the various aspects of management. From psychological contracts to team communication, from motivation to tactics, the author painstakingly points out the potential and pitfalls of decisions you make as a manager.
THE AUTHOR
TIM HEALY has a lifelong active service record in the GAA as player, coach, manager and administrator. Born in Cork, he captained Coláiste Chríost Rí to their first ever Munster colleges SF title. He played minor football for Cork and senior football for Wicklow. He has managed successful Bray Emmets teams as well as the senior footballers of Castletown in Wexford and UCD. Tim has also managed the Wicklow U-21 football team. In Can You Manage? Tim applies his vast knowledge of business management to full use in the sporting arena.
Price - €14.99 (£12.99)
TICK, TOCK, TEN
By Gerry Duffy
THE BOOK
On June 3, 2023 Irishman Gerry Duffy and 19 other competitors lined up at the start of the UK Deca Iron Triathlon to:
SWIM 2.4 MILES
CYCLE 116 MILE AND
RUN 26.2 MILES (A MARATHON)
EVERY DAY…FOR 10 SUCCESSIVE DAYS.
Only three of the 20 participants finished the gruelling event. The author crossed the line in first place but only after enduring the greatest physical pain he’d ever encountered including the fear at the end of the ninth day that his body wouldn’t allow him to answer the bell for the final round.
Gerry Duffy’s blow-by-blow account is at once revealing and uplifting as he details how he overcame bouts of hallucinations as he fought with every sinew of his being to finish the mammoth undertaking.
This gripping narrative is brilliantly supplemented with the interspersing of diaries and accounts from a number of other competitors through the book, giving ‘TICK, TOCK, TEN’ unprecedented depth, perspective and insight across its pages.
As well as offering an insight into other competitors’ experiences during this extreme challenge, Duffy also provides the reader with a detailed insight into how he prepared as he shares an intimate diary of every training session he completed.
A surprise bonus for readers at the back of the book, is access to a host of training plans with distances from zero to 30 minutes of exercise for complete beginners or those returning to fitness. In addition, access to a variety of training programmes covering half marathon and full marathon is offered (with an array of finishing time options) as well as a full iron distance training programme.
THE AUTHOR
Gerry’s first book Who Dares, Runs was published two years ago and this month went into a fifth reprint. It detailed how himself and Ken Whitelaw planned and then undertook the running of 32 marathons in 32 successive days in the 32 counties of Ireland.
