Author to launch short story collection in home village

A Jersey-based author who grew up in Rochfortbridge in the ’90s is to launch a collection of short stories based on her childhood this week.

‘The Wake of Yer Man’ by Yvonne Heavey is described as semi-biographical and contains 11 short stories in total.

Funds raised from the book will go towards the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP) and St Mary’s GAA club in Rochfortbridge.

There are several launch events planned for the book, and the main one is at the Village Hall in Rochfortbridge at noon on Friday October 11.

Additional events will be held at St Joseph’s School in Rochfortbridge at noon on October 10, and at Belvedere House at 5.30pm on October 12.

In the author’s own words, the stories in ‘The Wake of Yer Man’ narrate simple events such as a visit to the bookies in Mullingar, footing the peat at Mulvin’s Bog in Knockdrin, or the exotic attractions of a day’s holiday at Ireland’s Florida, Bettystown, seen through the eyes of a young Irish girl.

They return the reader to a time and place where community and its characters (and dogs) were the lifeblood of existence.

Ms Heavey said St Mary’s GAA have been “incredible” in helping to launch the book.

“They have just been amazing and there’s about 200 people coming to the Village Hall for the launch,” she said.

“I grew up in Derrygreenagh Park in Rochfortbridge, where there are 100 homes, so this is bringing them back to ’90s Ireland, before we had mobile phones, and people are excited to relive these memories.

“I didn’t think these stories would go anywhere at first but now it’s actually turned into quite a big thing. I’ve got all my family and the class of ’99 that I went to school with coming down to the launch – people from Jersey, people from Dublin – it’s a real mixed bag.”

Ms Heavey said she was an active GAA player in her youth in Ireland.

“I played football, all my nieces, my nephews, and all of my family played,” she said.

“As a kid growing up in the ’90s, football was everything to us. It was all we had as an outlet and to get up and down the country to go places.

“There were some incredible men and women behind GAA in Rochfortbridge in the ’90s and there still are.”

‘The Wake of Yer Man’ will be available to purchase from any of the launch events or online from Amazon.co.uk.