Dead as DoornailsDead as Doornails, first published in 1976, is widely considered a defining classic of Irish literary memoir. Anthony Cronins account of life in post war literary Dublin is as wry, funny and colourful as one would expect from an intimate of Brendan Behan, Patrick Kavanagh and Flann OBrien; but it is also a clear eyed and bracing antidote to the kitsch that passes for literary history and memory in the Dublin of today. Cronin writes with remarkable

its power to arouse and re-open the road to civilization and culture

while casting new light on the commercial development of Dublin during the last two hundred years

comprising the autobiography as well as a monumental collection of his journals

other Orders within the Franciscan family

Technical information – including a listing of keys and time signatures

His mother and eleven-year-old brother Denis had made the grim journey from Armagh to be with him

informative guide

and why it has been reformed

From the narrow alleyways and backstreets of the Liberties and the north inner city to the leafy environs of the south side

with painterly excursions to Bruges and Budapest during the 1930s

in which priests attacked socialists over custody of Catholic children

the country boy who drowns himself