Life is harsh in close-knit community of Dirrabeg, a community on the Dingle Peninsula facing extinction in the mid-1950's. Many of the young have left for England or America, where there are opportunities and chances for secure lives. Those remaining behind love their land and their independence but fear for the future as the bogs get thin, the yields are poor, and the children have little hope of success.'We never died a winter yet.'A wickedly funny and insightfu...

The Field is John B. Keane's fierce and tender study of the love a man can have for land and the ruthless lengths he will go to in order to obtain the object of his desire. It is dominated by Bull McCabe, one of the most famous characters in Irish writing today. An Oscar-nominated adaptation of The Field proved highly successful and popular worldwide, and starred Richard Harris, John Hurt, Brenda Fricker and Tom Berenger.

Accessible eBook: Sive is a young and beautiful orphan who lives with her uncle Mike, his wife Mena and his mother Nanna. A local matchmaker, Thomasheen Seán Rua, wants Sive to marry an old man called Sean Dóta. Thomasheen convinces Mike and Mena to organise the marriage. They will receive a sum of two hundred pounds as soon as she marries him. However, Sive is in love with a young man, Liam Scuab. But Liam is not suitable and is refused permission to marry Sive. Sive is distraught but is ...

In this volume are hundreds of short pieces which represent the distillation of the experience of a funny, witty, wise and passionate observer of the bright tapestry of Irish life. All human life is here, and Keane tells its story in an astonishing procession of remarkable characters and in rare humorous glimpses of his own career. This is a collection to prize.

From highwaymen to healing waters and from brewerys to bridges, not to mention lots of castles, cathedrals, abbeys, towers, passage tombs and priories, this collection of fascinating stories, which started as a regular series in the 'Kilkenny People', details the lore and landmarks of County Kilkenny from top to bottom. Read the fascinating stories of the thatched villages of South Kilkenny, of Ballyspellan Spa, of the trio of treasures at Kilree, of Dunmore Cave and, in the city itself, o...

Durango is an adventure story about the great October cattle drive of Tubberlick. Set in rural Ireland during the Second World War, this novel features the themes of love, sex, money and betrayal. Durango has been produced as a film starring Brenda Fricker, Patrick Bergin and Pat Laffin.

This is the story of Dan Murray, who emigrated to England in 1952. He finds work as a building labourer and in time he becomes a building contractor.John B. Keane captures the turbulent, bawdy, anarchic life of Irish contractors and labourers as they try to make it big in England. Told in his usual hilarious and bulls-eye accurate style.

The Highest House on the Mountain examines the tension between brothers, fathers and sons. When Mikey's son Patrick comes to visit with his new wife, he is quickly followed by his brother Connie, a scheming ne'er-do-well who sets out to destroy Patrick's marriage and Mikey's bond with his brother Sonny. The only escape from the final tragedy is to the highest house on the mountain, where those who've had 'enough of bitterness' can take refuge.

A further collection of John B. Keane's highly successful letters. This book includes Letters of a Civic Guard, Letters of an Irish Publican, Letters of a Country Postman and Letters to the Brain. Four very different people in four very different circumstances and the thread that binds them is John B. Keane's skill at recognising the follies and weaknesses of men and women. The letter writers and their correspondents prove to be fine examples of this.

All human life is here, and Keane tells its story in an astonishing procession of remarkable characters and in rare humorous glimpses of his own career. There are more shades to John B. Keane's humour than there are colours in the rainbow. Compassion, shrewdness and a glorious sense of fun and roguery are evident in this collection, which brings together John B. Keane's tales. A fitting tribute to John B. Keane, for decades Ireland's favourite storyteller, this winning short story collecti...

A musical play dealing with emigration and the lack of jobs at home that forced people to leave their native Ireland for England. It describes the emigrants 'longing for home' - 'Everyone is lonesome leaving home' - their annual homecomings and their return to jobs and places they disliked - 'back to their night shifts, an' filthy digs ... with their long faces leanin' out o' the carriage windows with the thoughts of what's waitin' over'.

Moll is a hilarious and highly successful comedy about life in an Irish country presbytery.'When a presbytery gets a new housekeeper it becomes like a country that gets a change of government, or like a family that gets a new stepmother'. Moll Kettle would work for no less than a canon for, in her own words, 'Tis hard to come back to the plain black and white when one is used to the purple'. John B. Keane was one of Ireland's most prolific and respected literary figures. He was born in 192...