It all seems very long ago now that my new book was published in February 2020 and I began to make tentative plans for a book-launch in the late spring. It is clear now that hoping to organise a book-launch for any time in the for-see-able future is not realistic. So I am hoping now that all going well The Kings of Aileach and the Vikings will be launched, hopefully somewhere in Inishowen in April 2021. This will be exactly 1 year later than envisaged, but considering all that is going on all around the world, a very small price to pay. Thankfully family and friends are safe so far from Covid 19 and all medical front-line staff have my greatest appreciation for their bravery and self-sacrifice. So too do the staff in my local supermarkets, the postmen still delivery our mail and the many other service providers who are still working and who we probably don’t even know about. Compared to this a delayed book-launch is no inconvenience at all.
New Book Early 2020
It is with great pleasure that I would like to announce the publication of the last installment in my trilogy of books about the history of medieval Ireland, The Kings of Aileach and the Vikings, AD 800-1060. Published by Four Courts Press (with whom I have a very good relationship by this stage), my new book is due to be published in very early 2020. This book is primarily concerned with Viking activity in the north of Ireland and their interaction with my ancestors, the Cenél nEógain population group of the Inishowen Peninsula and Central Ulster. My new book should appeal to students and teachers of early medieval Irish history and also to local historians across a wide stretch of the north of Ireland. My book deals extensively with the local history of the Inishowen Peninsula and adjacent areas in Co. Donegal and also with almost the entire area of the modern counties of Derry and Tyrone that were inhabited by the Cenél nEógain people in early medieval times. Also covered are Co.s Antrim, Down and Louth, the land of the Ulaid people during this time. All these areas had a definite regional dynamic throughout the Viking Age. So please keep an eye out for the new book in the shops from early in the new year. I will post another blog when I receive my first copy which is always an enjoyable time for an author.