Books: My family ties to Cobh go way back... so I set my book here

I was fortunate to grow up on the Great Island in Cork. My family goes back on the road where I live to the early 1800s. The Russell family had farmed the land in Ballynoe for seven generations.

I am married with three children and have four grandchildren, who keep me young!

I went to Norwood Primary School (as it was known back then) and I attended St Mary’s Secondary School. Later, I studied languages in UCC. I have always had a deep love for music.

I taught French and German for seven years in Listowel, Co Kerry, before securing a permanent position in my alma mater, which became Coláiste Muire in the 1970s and is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

In my late 30s, I decided to job-share. My husband worked in the deep sea sector and full-time hours were beginning to take their toll on me when our third child arrived. Until this time, I had not written or composed music.

Within months of taking job-share hours, a literal avalanche of songs came… from where, I’m not quite sure. There was no stopping it, even if I had wanted to, but I didn’t.

By the early 2000s, I had self-published a book called My Road, a collection of poetry and prose about my life as far as that point. It was quite a poignant nod to the generations who had gone before me on the road where I lived in Ballynoe.

The wave of creativity continued unabated. In 2021, I self-published The Year The World Went Wonky, which documents the crazy time we experienced here on Great Island during the covid pandemic.

It also references things which were happening in the wider world. This was a difficult time because I couldn’t have a launch due to the very limiting covid restrictions.

My husband left his deep sea job in 1998 and got a job as a Cork Harbour pilot. I continued to teach and to follow my creative pursuits.

During this time, I used to come home from work and hear about the ships my husband had brought in and out of the harbour.

One of the names which lodged in my brain was - not a ship - but the name of a navigation buoy in the harbour called Dognose. All the seafarers knew Dognose. I loved the name and began to do a little research about this buoy.

I had retired early in 2019, so I was able to give free rein to my passion for writing songs, poetry and prose.

When my husband retired from piloting about three years ago, salty tales abounded at the various gatherings we attended.

I began to think of Dognose again, and I had the idea of bringing him to life (I decided that it was a male buoy) in a small book about the harbour.

It also struck me that I knew more than I ever realised about the essential job the pilots do in Cork Harbour. I had the inside line.

Apart from piloting, my husband is passionate about sailing, although despite his bests efforts he has not succeeded in making a sailor out of me in 42 years! I reckon I am a lost cause.

I had worked with Lettertec in Carrigtwohill for The Year The World Went Wonky, and had had a very good experience with them, so I contacted them again.

They responded very positively and so the Dognose story came into being.

Though I am not a sailor. I have a passionate love for Cork Harbour and the Great Island in particular. I just love living here and consider myself extremely fortunate that my parents, who met in London in the late 1950s, came back here to rear their family.

Of course, Ballynoe was a huge draw for my mother, who was an only child and whose widowed mother, Mary Russell, ran the farm in Ballynoe.

I feel in a way that much of what Dognose says about Cobh reflects how I feel about it every single day.

Bit by bit, the book came together. I’m still not sure who its target audience is; Dognose speaks in very simple language but I am hopeful that adults too may gain some extra insights into the harbour and the work of the pilots.

One adult reader told me that after a long day at work, she found the simple language refreshing!

Dognose is a philosopher, a bit of a Gaeilgeóir and he is very musical. In fact, he has written his own song, I Am Dognose, which I sang with my ukulele group at the book launch!

When the text of Dognose was complete, I knew that I needed an illustrator who could do justice to all the beautiful images I wanted to include in the book.

One day, I was casually scrolling through Facebook and I came across an image of the beautiful House of Cards in Cobh. I loved it. I contacted the artist straight away. He is from Belfast. His name is Nigel McAuley, and he said he would be thrilled to do the illustrations for the book.

We did a trial run for Dognose himself, and I knew I had struck gold. Nigel had never illustrated a book before. I think the book would sell just with his illustrations alone!

One of the pilots, and a friend of my hubby’s, Aidan Fleming, took many of the photos, which I sent on to Nigel, and he worked his own special magic on them.

I included a quiz at the end of the book for those who are so inclined. It was an idea which came from my son-in-law, Alan Carney.

Alan and my daughter Gill also had the idea of doing a recording of selected chapters of the book, which are on YouTube, and can be accessed through a QR code at the beginning of the chapter.

This was way beyond my comfort zone, but it worked, largely due to Eddie English, a well known sea dog in Cobh who does a local forecast for us every morning in Cobh. Eddie brought the words to life in his own inimitable way.

For me, Dognose is about legacy, {not to be too morbid). Obviously, I hope it sells well, but when you get to a certain age, you begin to think about what you’ll leave behind for the generations to come.

The launch last month far exceeded my expectations. What other book launch has a starting gun to start the proceedings in the beautiful Sirius Centre in Cobh? (The time of the launch coincided with the start of the Race to Cork).

There was such a buzz, and I am so grateful to those who came to support me, and those who have purchased a copy so far.

Dognose costs €20, and a percentage of its early sales will go to Cork North Gaza, to a school which is operating in a stadium in Gaza. A group of extraordinary people there are trying to build a more permanent structure for the 400-plus children there. They are so happy not to be forgotten, and the children send us beautiful and very moving art to express their thanks.

Dognose is available in Carmel’s Cove Top of the Hill and from Noreen at Individuals downtown. Thanks to Carmel and Noreen for their support, and for everyone who helped along the way.