Our Books

Andy Moran is one of the most respected and admired sportsmen to ever grace a Gaelic football arena.

The former double All-Star, Footballer of the Year and Mayo team captain has written a compelling appraisal of the sport he loves. This first publication by the Mayo author follows his retirement in 2019.

It is a book about Mayo football – the agony, the ecstasy, the bitter near misses, the players, the friendships, the highs and the lows.

But it has a much broader canvas.

Andy – Lessons Learned in Pursuit of Glory does what it says. It tells us how sport can influence every aspect of a player’s life; of how football moulded the writer himself; of the life lessons that sport teaches all of us; and of how a coach or mentor can be a life-changing influence on a young adult.

As the author says, this is a story about relationships and lessons learned, told through the people who inspired him and who, in turn, epitomise what is so special about Mayo football.

'The contribution of the Irish "Navvy" to the British construction industry has been "immeasurable".

For over two centuries, for hundreds of thousands of rural Irish male immigrants to Britain, the best chance of a start was in construction. While the men themselves have been largely forgotten or ignored, the canals, the railways, the roads, tunnels, dams and public utilities of Britain stand as lasting monuments to their sacrifices and achievements.

"The Men Who Built Britain" has been researched by Ultan Cowley over a number of years. In it he quotes extensively from numerous interviews with genuine Irish navvies and subcontractors, senior English management and relatives of those involved.

In this debut collection of short stories by Liam Horan, the concerns of someone moving through the rough and the smooth of middle age come to the surface– the loss of central figures in your life, the effort to place in context your existence thus far, the nostalgia for days that can’t return and the looming shadow of your own mortality.

Horan’s engaging characters range from the mild to the provocative. They nudge you with their messages of self-realisation, optimism and quiet acceptance as they navigate real-life dilemmas: the Spanish man returning to the Irish city where he met the love of his life, the journalist retracing old steps after the death of a long-lost friend, the woman breaking free of a coercive partner to rediscover her self-worth, the sports star redefining her relationship with her sport and herself, the father for whom the break-up of his daughter’s marriage sunders his fulfilling friendship with his son-in-law and the widower venturing out into the world again. It is a collection that deals with change. In prose that is thoughtful and measured, and in west of Ireland settings, the journeys the characters make, are both real and metaphorical.

Liam Horan lives in Ballinrobe, Co. Mayo, with his wife Noreen and their dog Harris. He is a former journalist who worked in a variety of publications, including as Gaelic Games Correspondent of the Irish Independent (1995 to 2000). He is the creator of the Championship Man series of essays on RTÉ Radio One (Drivetime and Countrywide programmes). He is currently employed by the Western Development Commission on the ConnectedHubs.ie project, and is also the proprietor of Slí Nua Careers, a career training agency.

Andy Moran is one of the most respected and admired Gaelic Footballers of his generation. The former two-time All-Star, Footballer of the Year and Mayo team captain has written a compelling account of his journey through the sport he loves, told through vignettes about the mentors who influenced him, teammates who’ve inspired him and the games that made him.

This is a book about Mayo football - the agony and the ecstasy, the near misses, the friendships, but it has a much broader canvas.


Andy - Lessons Learned in Pursuit of Glory does exactly what it says. It tells us how sport can influence every aspect of a players life; of how the game of football moulded the writer himself; of the life lessons that sport teaches all of us; and how a good coach can have a life-changing influence on a young athlete. It is also an homage to his native Mayo, a county that has captivated the country season after season through daring deeds and epic comebacks, all in the pursuit of glory.


The limited edition version of this title is a book for the discerning Mayo GAA fan and book lover. Each copy will be signed and is adorned by a unique 'away' book cover.

For over 20 years, Johnny Mee’s Auld Stock column in The Connaught Telegraph has been compulsory reading every Tuesday.

Johnny is a treasure trove of memories of the Castlebar and Mayo of yesteryear. His ability to recall people, places and events right back to his childhood in the 1930s is exceptional.

He has a phenomenal recall and his columns are a marvellous trip to another era, recalling the characters, happenings and day to day life of previous generations.

Johnny doesn’t just recall his own childhood and adult years but the stories passed onto him by older generations. He’s a wonderful storyteller with wit, knowledge and he offers a pithy look at many of the flaws of modern life.

This collection of the best of his columns is a unique and vital social history of Castlebar and Mayo.

His love for ‘the town I have loved so well’ is clear and he honours the memory of those who went before him and those who will follow him with this wonderful trip down memory lane.