Cork writer Cónal Creedon on striking gold at awards ceremony

CORK writer Cónal Creedon’s latest book, Art Imitating Life Imitating Death, has just been awarded Gold for the European Non-Fiction section of the prestigious Independent Publisher Awards - the IP Book Awards in the USA.

His name will now be included alongside an impressive list of previous IP award winners, including best-selling author Margaret Atwood, former U.S Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, and Canadian Law Professor Randal Graham.

The awards were established in the U.S to highlight and honour exemplary books, which are selected from more than 5,000 titles.

The works are chosen from among an array of independent publishers such as Oxford University Press, Yale University Press, University of Washington Press, Stanford University Press, and The White House Historical Association. Now, a book produced by Cónal’s own independent publishing venture, Irishtown Press, based in Cork, has received the highest accolade of them all - the Gold award.

A fantastic achievement indeed, and while Cónal was elated with the announcement in late May, he is also characteristically modest about his achievement.

“I love what I do, it’s only rock n’roll and I like it, as the old song goes,” said Cónal. 

So the fact that I can keep on doing what I do is the greatest reward of all.

“Having said that, at a very basic level it’s always special to receive encouragement. That sense of ‘Well done!’ and a slap on the back, be it from friends or family or people I meet as I wander round the town, is always heart-warming.

“Sometimes, I’m crossing Patrick’s Bridge and a taxi driver honks the horn and gives me a thumbs up, or yells out the window to keep on doing what I’m doing. 

Like, how special, how privileged is that?

“Encouragement is always important, but on a deeper level I guess it’s only human to wonder how my work is received and how it rates on a competitive level, so it means an awful lot to me when a third party endorsement comes in like this.”

Art Imitating Life Imitating Death is Cónal’s personal exploration of the short story Guests Of The Nation by fellow Cork writer Frank O’Connor - a tale which has touched the hearts of many scholars in the Irish educational system over the years as it was featured in the textbook Exploring English and was on the syllabus for the state exam the Inter Cert. now known as the Junior Cert.

The impact of Guests Of The Nation upon many teenagers reading it for the first time was profound. It’s set against a backdrop of a deeply perturbing period in the history of the Irish nation- the Irish War of Independence - and examines a moral dilemma of vast proportions.

This impact was felt too by a young Cónal when he read the story for the first time in his school textbook - “something abut that story just stopped me in my tracks.” he recalls.

It tells of two young IRA volunteers, Bonaparte and Nobel, who are guarding their captured enemies in an isolated rural cottage, two British soldiers named Belcher and Hawkins.

Over time, a camaraderie unfolds between them as they enjoy cosy evenings by the fire, playing cards and enjoying some lively banter.

The relaxing evenings come to an abrupt and horrific ending when the lads are ordered to perform their duty, by taking Belcher and Hawkins outside and shooting them dead as an act of reprisal.

In 2003, Cónal was commissioned by RTÉ to adapt Guests Of The Nation for radio as part of the Frank O’Connor centenary celebrations, and thus began his meticulous research into the background of the story. He uncovered many fascinating details of real life events, which he concluded may have been the inspiration for O’Connor’s story.

"Seduced by a narrative so deeply rooted in a culture, history and landscape so familiar to me, I was captivated by this wartime parable,” recalls Cónal.

He discovered that senior British officer Major Geoffrey Compton Smith had been held hostage and killed in Donoughmore, Co. Cork, the birthplace of O’Connor’s mother.

In 2012, Cónal was invited by descendants of the Donoughmore IRA to visit the series of safe houses where Major Compton Smith had been held, and concluded it was highly probable that Guests Of The Nation was inspired by it.

His visit to Donoughmore that day had a profound effect on him. 

It was a day where painful memories of generations past were laid bare, and in some cases laid to rest.

He has given many public lectures and enjoys engaging with his audience.

“Public lectures are always exciting, engaging and great fun. You never know who’s going to turn up. At a lecture at the Crawford Gallery here in Cork, a relative of the man who actually pulled the trigger and shot Major Compton Smith came up to me afterwards to say hello.

“On another occasion, a granddaughter of Noble Johnson turned up, which was really brilliant. She said my research had in turn encouraged her to research her family, as during my research I had stumbled upon the real Noble Johnson who may have been the inspiration for the fictional character in O’ Connor’s story.”

As well as the inspiration drawn from the profound O’Connor story, Cónal says his book would not have come about if it were not for three other people who were instrumental in its conception.

“It all began on the cusp of Covid in January 2020 in Switzerland,” he recalls “Dr Shane Walshe had invited me to present my lecture, ‘Art Imitating Life Imitating Death’, at the Swiss Centre for Irish studies at the University of Zurich and Zurich James Joyce Foundation for the Irish Revolutionary Period Symposium.

“Then, following on from that, Dr Fiorenzo Fantaccini of Florence University published the text in Studi Irlandesi, A Journal of Irish studies by Firenze University Press.

The second part of the book was compiled by Dr Conci Mazzullo, of Catania University, Italy, who conduced an extensive interview with me on my work entitled The Joy Of Writing After 20 Years, which was published in 2022 by Studi Irlandesi, a Journal of Irish studies by Firenze University Press.”

This part of the book gives a fascinating insight into the writer Cónal’s life and creative practice and the inspiration which he draws from the streets where he lives in downtown Cork city which he describes as “the Spaghetti Bowl of Streets” and from where his family have traded for over a hundred years.

Cónal Creedon will be presenting ‘Art Imitating Life Imitating Death’ at the Maritime Hotel in Bantry on July 9 at 2.30pm as part of the West Cork Literary Festival.

His book is available from Waterstones and Dubray books and www.IrishtownPress.com