Book Launch: Yeats in Howth

Book Launch:

Yeats in Howth  (Dublin City Books)

By Kieran McNally

Wednesday 9 Oct 2024, 6.30pm – 8.30pm

This new book maps the time the great Irish poet W.B. Yeats lived in Howth, his attempts to make his work catch fire, and his struggle to become an artist. The book reveals the enduring influence this Dublin location had on his work. And it explores the young writer’s supernatural interests, his fledgling verse, and his proximity to madness. It recalls encounters with his first love Laura Armstrong, and captures moments of profound poetic inspiration and fragile beauty such as Yeats’s legendary sea cliff walk with his great unrequited love Maud Gonne – in a poetic landscape fit for eternity’s ghosts.

Author Kieran McNally said, “In many senses Yeats is a forgotten Dublin poet. His formative years were spent in Howth but few people realise this. This little book throws light on that time. Place gives birth to a poet and poetry. And so it is with Howth, with its caves, thickets and fairies; with its fisherfolk and ghost stories. Not to mention lovers. If you understand the influence of this place on Yeats, you will understand his poetry in a new and interesting way. We are composed by place”.

The stunning matchstick book cover was designed by designer and illustrator Katie Tooke, who has designed landmark covers for bestselling books such as Jessie Burton’s The House of Fortune.

Editor Liz Hudson of Little Red Pen, said, “I really enjoyed working on this charming book and especially learning about where and how Yeats encountered so much Irish mythology and folklore. I can’t wait for my next visit to Howth!”

Praise for the author’s earlier books

Praise for the Island Imagined by the Sea. (The Liffey Press)

“A little gem…a wonderful read…a wonderful book about Dublin’s most accessible island” – Sunday Independent

“A real paean to Bull Island and its enduring strangeness.” – Martin Fanning, Four Courts Press

“McNally has done an impressive amount of research and unearthed some real gems” – Sunday Times

“Fascinating tales…delightfully descriptive…Dublin really does have its very own Treasure Island. Go find your own pleasure there. Here’s Your Map” – Irish Independent

Praise for A Critical History of Schizophrenia (Palgrave Macmillan)

“As a work of scholarship on the ‘schizophrenia’ idea this book is pretty much peerless. It’s also exceptionally well written.” – Richard Gipps, author of On Madness: Understanding the Psychotic Mind

“This is a text that should be prescribed reading for all entering the mental health professions”. – Pádraig Collins PsycCRITIQUES , Vol. 61 (4), 2016

“A Critical History of Schizophrenia will no doubt encourage greater awareness of the variability, inconsistency, and unpredictability of the concept of schizophrenia over time. This is a very important task, to which this book contributes a great deal.” -Bonnie Evans, ISIS, Vol. 108 (4), 2017

Yeats in Howth is available from Books Upstairs, The Company of Books, The Winding Stair Bookshop, Manor Books other good bookshops and online stores. Dublin City Books was founded in 2023 with the aim of publishing books on important subjects of niche interest. It will be open for new submissions in Winter 2024.

Access our Building

The Irish Writers Centre is currently housed in 19 Parnell Square, Dublin 1. This is a Georgian building which unfortunately does not have a lift. There are 5 steps into the entrance level. The majority of the event’s activities will take place in the Strong room which is on the second floor and requires climbing 55 steps in total. Please do inform us of any accessibility requirements you might have before the event so we can make any necessary arrangements.

If you have any questions about the event, please email info@irishwriterscentre.ie.