Noel O’Regan on legendary Kerrymen, August in the Kingdom, and Peig Sayers’ electric blanket
“The Kerry Creators Series grew out of a passion to connect with other writers, illustrators and photographers with links to the Kingdom. Kerry’s motto is “Comhar, Cabhair, Cairdeas,” which translates to “Cooperation, Help, and Friendship” and I can think of no better description of the people in this place that, as a blow-in, I’ve come to love.”
Noel O’Regan is a native of Tralee and is the grandson of Kerry footballing legend, Martin “Bracker” O’Regan. At around 14 years of age he accepted that he didn’t have what it took to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps on the football field and so turned to writing, figuring that he’d try to succeed in the field of literature instead.
Noel’s writing has won many awards, including a Seán Dunne Young Writer Award and an Arts Council Next Generation Artist Award. His debut novel, “Though the Bodies Fall” (Granta Books), was shortlisted for Newcomer of the Year at the 2023 An Post Irish Book Awards. His stories build out of an engagement with place – and that place, more often than not, is Kerry.
Q&A
1. You’re taking a writing break in a Kerry café … Where is it? What Kerry author would you be reading? And which Kingdom-inspired dish would you be absolutely unable to resist?
Madden’s in Tralee – a warm, atmospheric café on Milk Market Lane a short walk from the town square. I’d likely be sitting in a corner, with my tea/coffee, reading some Bryan MacMahon short stories, or poetry by the Cork-born-but-Tralee-based Victoria Kennefick.
2. Which month do you love most in Kerry, and why?
August, specifically late August – the time of year where the imminent reopening of schools, for whatever cosmic reason, always heralds a burst of beautiful, late-summer weather. It’s the perfect time for a swim out in Fenit or a long walk on Banna Strand.
3. Who would you rather share a pint of Guinness with: Tom Crean or John B. Keane? Tell us a little more!
Very tough call! Could I share a pint with Tom Crean in John B. Keane’s pub with Keane behind the counter, serving? Two legendary Kerrymen, no doubt about that. I’d love to chat to Keane about his writing and the craft generally, hopefully gathering some insights into his brilliance, whereas with Crean you’d simply want to hear him talk about his extraordinary life, which is worthy of a novel in itself.
4. Which is your favourite Kerry …
a. Beach? Banna
b. Pub? Sean Óg’s in Tralee
c. Drive? The drive around Slea Head
d. Hike? The loop walk in Glanageenty
e. Bookshop? Impossible to pick one, particularly when they’ve all been so supportive of my book
f. View? The panoramic view from the edge of Clogher Head: the Blaskets, An Fear Marbh, the Three Sisters, Smerwick Harbour, Mount Brandon and Dunmore Head all captured in one rotation
5. If time travel allowed you to go back, visit the Blaskets, and give one item and one piece of advice to Peig Sayers, what would they be?
I’m not sure I could give that legend any advice, to be honest. If anything, I’d be looking for some from her! As for an item, maybe a radiator or an electric blanket? Reading her work you really feel the bone-deep, brutal coldness of living on the Blaskets, particularly in winter; it’d be nice to give her a bit of comfort.
6. We’re lucky to have Ireland’s mightiest (and highest) peak right here in the county. Have you ever climbed Carrauntoohil? If so, how did it make you feel? If not … would you consider giving it a go?
I don’t have the best head for heights but have climbed it, inching up the steeper-than-expected Devil’s Ladder, trying my best not to look down, and returning to the lowlands via the Zig-Zags. Atop it, you are struck by the majesty of the Reeks, that slap of geological time and timeless natural beauty that simultaneously makes you feel very small and very much alive.
7. If you could pick one thing the county could do without, and one thing that it must never, ever lose, what would you choose?
One thing it must never lose: its environmental beauty and diversity – which is in jeopardy – needs to be protected at all costs.
One thing it could do without: A resurgent Cork football team …
8. Finally …
i. The reeks or the strand? The strand – just about
ii. Dingle or Killarney? Ah God, these are tough. Dingle – by a hair’s breadth (my Killarney relations are going to kill me for saying that)
iii. Blaskets or Skelligs? Skelligs
iv. Black or white pudding? Black, 100%
v. Kerryman or Kerry’s Eye? A draw here, can’t choose. Both great.
vi. Hunter, Dubarry or good old Dunlop? A townie through and through, so haven’t much use for them. But the go-to would be Dunlop
vii. Rooster or Kerr’s Pink? Kerr’s Pink
viii. Turf or timber? Turf
ix. Dingle Gin or Skelligs chocolate? Chocolate, I always go with the chocolate
x. Fassbender or Buckley? Both are incredible talents, but Buckley’s brilliance as both an actor and a singer (her album with Bernard Butler, “For All Our Days That Tear the Heart”, is extraordinary) means she just about shades it. Saying that, if Fassbender ever decides to play Micheál – the protagonist in my novel – in an adaptation of “Though the Bodies Fall”, I promise to change my mind…
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Ed note: Thanks so much, Noel! Find Noel’s website at www.noeloregan.com and his brilliant RTE interview here. Don’t forget to pick up a copy of Though the Bodies Fall …
From an exciting new voice in Irish fiction, a powerful novel set on an Irish clifftop - a story about duty, despair and the chance encounters upon which fate turns.
Micheál Burns lives alone in his family's bungalow at the end of Kerry Head in Ireland. It is a picturesque place, but the cliffs have a darker side to them: for generations they have been a suicide black spot. Micheál's mother saw the saving of these lost souls - these visitors - as her spiritual duty, and now, in the wreckage of his life, Micheál finds himself continuing her work. When his sisters tell him that they want to sell the land, he must choose between his siblings and the visitors, a future or a past.
