Kevin Barry
Kevin Barry
Kevin Gerard Barrywas the first Irish republican to be executed by the British since the leaders of the Easter Rising. Barry was sentenced to death for his part in an Irish Volunteers operation which resulted in the deaths of three British soldiers...
NationalityIrish
ProfessionAuthor
CountryIreland
cork wrote
I was freelancing for years in Cork and around. I also wrote freelance pieces for 'The Irish Times.'
aching bed emerge expression hear morning particular passed physical sound weariness
I remember, as a child, a particular groan that my father would sound when he crawled from the bed in the morning. I hear the same groan now, precisely, every morning, when I emerge from my own lair. It's more than an expression of physical weariness - it's an aching of the soul. Even the groans get passed down.
enjoyed freelance gets greatly knew needed satisfying side work
I greatly enjoyed working as a freelance journalist, because it gets you out of the house, and it gets you talking to people, but it wasn't satisfying all of my cravings, and I knew that I needed to work with the other side of my brain - the darker, murkier side!
banish blast blues brought cities love spain spanish sunlight
I go to Spain a lot, in winter, for a blast of sunlight to banish the blues brought on by the Irish greys and drizzle. I love the cities of the Spanish interior.
area cusp interest operate quite stories towards
I don't quite operate within the realist mode. I kind of push the stories out towards the cusp of believability - that's the area of interest for me.
happy reader
I like to be happy when I'm writing. If not, then how will the reader manage?
pragmatic side takes useful
I think journalism is useful training for a writer in the way it takes the preciousness out of the pragmatic side of the craft.
lives
Libraries are where we learn that we can live our lives through books.
cover cub days district early human life local passed remains reporter source time
In my very early days as a journalist, as a cub reporter on a local newspaper, I used to cover the district courthouse in Limerick city - all human life passed through that establishment, and my time there remains a source of inspiration.
deter jews plane
I wanted to write about Jews in Montana, so I went there by plane and bus, only to discover that there are no Jews in Montana. It didn't deter me.
directly morning rewrite rough three
Very first thing in the morning, I spew some rough genius directly on to the laptop. Then I have coffee and rewrite for three hours.
affinity almost critical felt generosity great lived special unified work worked
I have always felt a special affinity with V. S. Pritchett. He worked from the ear, primarily, as I do, and he was an all-rounder, writing short stories, novels, memoir, travelogue, critical biography. He lived to be almost 100, and he never stopped, and his work is unified by a great generosity of spirit.
began cork future happened outside realised spoken
I think the language as spoken in Limerick and Cork has not really been written; 'City of Bohane' is a combination of the two. Bohane is a little kingdom. When I began writing it, I realised that it was in the future and that it was a place that didn't care about anything that happened outside it.
cultural education
We want to take education and make it a cultural experience.