By Aoibhe Connolly

A well-known Galway GAA man whose New Year’s Resolution was to write his first book didn’t even take the full twelve months to realise his ambition – because the fruit of his labour was revealed to great fanfare last weekend.

Ballindereen native Mattie Larkin launched his new book, ‘Tales from the Village’, an eloquent and humorous adaptation of his own memories growing up in a rural seaside parish in the 1970s.

“I always had an inkling that I’d like to write a book, but I didn’t know what I’d actually write about,” said Mattie. “Like they say, everyone has a book in them, but some people should leave it there!”

“A lot of it is about hurling and oysters. We were on the sea so all my life I would have been involved in both, dredging for oysters, often illegally, and playing hurling with Ballindereen.”

All proceeds from Mattie’s book will be donated to the Maura Burke Memorial Fund, a foundation established by local businessman, Padraig Burke, in memory of his wife who died of cancer a few years ago.

“They have done some great work and raised a lot of money for Cancer Care West over the years,” said Mattie.

“I was chairperson of Ballindereen GAA club for a long time, and they were sort of our charity partners.

“I probably wouldn’t have printed the book at all if it wasn’t for charity, because I was able to get a bit of sponsorship towards the printing, which made it worthwhile.”

Mattie first began compiling the stories and memories from his youth on the notes app on his phone at the very beginning of this year, when he made a New Year’s Resolution to finally accomplish his goal of writing a book.

“I was just trawling through my memories of growing up in the seventies, and the incidents that happened to me, and I started forming a bit of a story around that,” he said.

“I fictionalised it so I wouldn’t have to stick rigidly to a script, and people wouldn’t be contradicting me. While a certain amount is fiction, the book contains a lot of my own stories from growing up, simple things like threshing, and visiting the village carnival and bonfire.

“Some of the things would probably be an eye-opener for the modern reader, things like smoking on the bus on the way to school, and nobody said a word about it!”

Community members, friends and supporters were among those who showed up at Ballindereen Community Centre at the weekend to celebrate the book’s launch, and Mattie’s commendable work in raising money for cancer care.

“A lot of the characters in the book, their heroes growing up would have been the Galway hurlers, and I invited a couple from the 1980 hurling team.

“Seán Silke actually officially launched the book, a great former hurler and Noel Lane, one of our own clubmates, also attended.”

‘Tales from the Village’ includes an introduction from author and broadcaster, John Quinn, as well as several colourful and creative illustrations by writer and artist, Damien Goodfellow.

Each copy costs €15, and they are available for purchase in several local shops around Kinvara, Ballindereen, Kilcolgan and Clarinbridge, as well as in Charlie Byrne’s bookshop in the city.

“I’d like to thank my wife, Susan, and daughters, Philippa and Georgia, for all their support during the writing process. My niece also proof-read the first draft, and there were a lot more people involved, without whom, none of this would have been possible,” said Mattie.

Pictured: Author Mattie Larkin, with his wife Susan and daughters Georgia and Philippa.