At age sixty seven, having practised international commercial transactional law for much of his forty year legal career, Kevin O’Connell has recently had published his first novel, a work of historical fiction entitled Beyond Derrynane: A Novel of Eighteenth Century Europe. It is now available on all Amazon outlets and should begin to appear at selected indie bookshops in the coming months. This is ‘his story behind his story’:
Like virtually all Irish (whether or not the nationality is followed by a hyphen and an additional geographic location), children of the post-World War II era, I grew up listening to countless stories – some sombre and stirring, others either scary or outright terrifying, more than a few laugh-out-loud funny. There were more characters than one could possibly list, from fairies – good and naughty, to brave warriors and kings; bold, arrogant (and seemingly always beautiful!) queens, even a king with horses’ ears! All were vivid, colourful and memorable.
Amongst those tales I recall most clearly were those involving people whose last name I share (as well as their spouses, neighbours, friends and enemies), referencing a place with the lyrically-magical sounding name of “Derrynane”.
Fast forward three-odd decades, I, in turn, told my five children and now, with a further passage of time, their numerous children, of the fairies and the horse-eared Kerry king – and of the O’Connells as well, never fully certain how factually-correct any of these legends were.
Despite repeating and embellishing these many timeless tales, I never thought that I would find myself writing stories of my own. For me, this gratifying journey began during was seemed to be a random conversation with my wife, Laurette. After a decades-long “sabbatical” from her first career as a singer/actress, she had just successfully created and debuted her second one-woman cabaret show. I was expressing my admiration for her creativity and my pride at her amazing talent. She looked me straight in the eye and declared that I, too, could create, suggesting that I should consider taking what I knew of Irish and European history, as well as the O’Connells and trying my hand at writing an historical novel.
To her surprise – and mine – this idea struck a chord with me. I was undeniably intrigued by the crazy notion. It was thus with a shocking (to myself) degree of ease that a short while thereafter on a quiet afternoon in the office I began making notes on a legal pad, even scripting out rough conversations between people, some of whom had existed and one or two who surprised me by, as I wrote, magically emerging from an imagination I didn’t believe I had.
With a very rough story idea, I continued writing – just a wee bit each day, at first. Fortunately, relatively early on in this process I came into contact with several extraordinary literary professionals who indicated that the writing was good, and that, in the words of one, I should “take it seriously – and write on”. About this time, having stumbled upon an article by Hilary Mantel (in the Wall Street Journal, of all places!) entitled “The Art of Making the Dead Speak,” I felt to some degree reassured – and experienced a not-insignificant sense of relief –as it appeared I actually had a knack for doing just that.
I was ultimately introduced to my talented and brilliantly-insightful editor, Randy Ladenheim-Gil in New York (formerly of William Morrow and Penguin).
Since I have always loved big books and as the words kept flowing, I began to think ofDerrynane as a massive single-volume (think Pillars of the Earth, or Edward Rutherfurd’s work – in terms of length, not quality), with a possible sequel. Being very much the traditionalist in most things in life, I envisioned obtaining an editor, who would, in turn, be successful in offering Derrynane to a publisher – large or small, well-known or not, neither mattered. Needless to say, in the topsy-turvy place that, in Randy’s words, “Bookland” has become, this led to a frustrating period, approaching seemingly-endless would-be agents (most of whom did not bother to respond, earning a marginal reference of “shame” in my list of submissions made!) and, ultimately, a number of publishers – large and small, in America and Europe, a number of whom spoke kindly of the work (one indie in Europe commenting, “. . . there’s certainly a lot to like!” ) and saw a certain quality (an American press advising, “ . . . (I)t’s beautifully written, full of wonderful description and lively characterizations. . . . however, we feel it’s just not right for us at this time.”) but choked on the length and the fact that it was a debut work.
With Randy’s skilful assistance, nudging, and cajoling and a great deal of writing and re-writing, tacking and trimming on my part in terms of the story – not to mention the super-human job of editing she has done and continues to do! – the original raw manuscript has became the genesis for what is now The Derrynane Saga, which will consist of Derrynane and three subsequent books, to be released in the course of the coming years.
Consistent with being “very much the traditionalist,” I was originally resistant to the notion of self-publishing – the sense that it was finally time to begin telling this story, to bring “Eileen of the Raven Locks,” with whom I’ve always felt some numinous connection, and her fellow characters to life in this century, as well at the same time concluding that if Roddy Doyle could follow this path, surely I could, finally brought me to CreateSpace shortly after the turn of the new year 2016. Out of this process, some four years and several months after the first scribbles were made on a legal pad, Beyond Derrynane: A Novel of Eighteenth Century Europe, has recently appeared, the first offering of a tiny, very new imprint, Gortcullinane Press. [Not coincidentally, “Gortcullinane” is the Irish name for the area – Dunloe (Upper) – in the Gap of Dunloe where my grandmother, Louise Hartnett O’Connell, was born and raised – and from where she departed for America around 1911. The O’Connells being the O’Connells, I have long felt that Louise was probably never given her due, so this is my small way of honouring her.]
Beyond Derrynane – and the three books to follow – will present a sweeping saga, set against the larger drama of Europe in the early stages of significant change, dramatising the roles, which have never before been treated in fiction, played by a small number of expatriate Irish Catholics of the fallen “Gaelic Aristocracy” (of which the O’Connells, despite being, or perhaps it was because they were, amongst the lower-to-middling ranks, were also amongst its few basically still-intact families) at the courts of Catholic Europe, as well as relating their complex, at times dangerous, lives at home in Protestant Ascendancy-ruled Ireland.
Derrynane itself begins to trace the largely-fictional lives of several of the O’Connells of Derrynane, beginning in the mid eighteenth century, focusing on that of the Gaelic poet, Eileen O’Connell. That she is a distinctively-strong and vivid personality is apparent from the opening pages of the work; as she matures and her character develops, she becomes a truly memorable, very Irish female protagonist, complex and dramatic. These lives are the anchor threads which will take the story from 1760 – 1767 in Derrynane,ultimately to the 1790’s as the Saga finally ends.
Wed at age sixteen, solely for the purpose of protecting and advancing the O’Connell family’s interests, she is widowed before her seventeenth birthday. As resolute as she is beautiful, Eileen refuses to yield to yet another arranged marriage, but rather, through the auspices of her uncle, General Moritz O’Connell of the Imperial Austrian Army, she spends the ensuing richly-dramatic and eventful years at the court of the Empress Maria Theresa in Vienna; Eileen’s ebullient elder sister, Abigail, also serves at court. Together with the General, they experience a complex life at the pinnacle of the Habsburg Empire.
The tantalisingly few documented historical facts that are actually known of the lives of the O’Connells and some of their fellow “Wild Geese” provide the basic threads around which the tale itself is woven, into which strategic additions of numerous fictional and historical personalities and events intertwine seamlessly. My hope is to have written a story, rich in historical and dramatic detail, populated by an array of colourfully- memorable characters, whose lives and stories play out in a series of striking settings.
So it’s now real – what began as a lark and became a passion has very much become my life’s work.
(c) Kevin O’Connell
