A 24-year-old Galway author – wheelchair-bound after a horrific car crash when he was just six – has just published his debut novel… using eye-gaze technology as he is unable to type.

Cullen Kennedy, originally from Loughrea but now living in College Crescent in the city, was left with multiple physical disabilities following a car crash when he was being driven to work by his mother, Maggie, in June 2008.

Cullen was sitting in a back-seat restrainer, and was thrown into the windscreen of the car, knocking him unconscious. He incurred brain and spinal injuries, leaving him permanently in a wheelchair and dependent on 24-hour care.

He subsequently received the largest settlement in a personal injury claim in the history of the State in 2012, when the High Court awarded him €11.5 million.

Since then, he has spent so much of his time in and out of hospital but that hasn’t dampened his enthusiasm for life – or for dark fantasy and science fiction.

And that brought him to write Fireborn – Crown of Serraphion, which was launched last week in front of family and friends at the Huntsman Inn, close to his home in College Crescent.

It’s the first volume in the Crown of Serraphion saga, which is described as ‘a series promising epic battles, heart, humour, and humanity, all written with a distinctly Irish pulse’.

The legend of the Phoenix runs through the book – fire, rebirth, sacrifice – with his characters, Leon Ri, Marina, Varric, battling inner darkness as much as external enemies.

His vivid imagination has created the Shadow Knights, Red Reapers, and Lethal Lizard Wizards, all fascinating creations – brutal, mysterious, and vividly cinematic – as the opening gambit in what is sure to become a gaga.

And ensuring it is very much a family affair, the cover illustrations, front and back, are by Cullen’s mother, Maggie.

Cullen himself described the book as the fruition of a two-year journey with Shadowscript Publishers in Athenry, and that company’s founder, author, editor, and mentor Niall Mac Giolla Bhuí was full of praise for the author at the book’s launch.

“Most of us, when we set out to write a book, imagine long hours bunched over a laptop, fingers lapping away, coffee cups piling up, and ideas spilling faster than we can type them,” he said.

“But Cullen didn’t have that luxury. His words weren’t written by hand. They were written by will.

“Cullen, as many of you know, lives with multiple physical disabilities and uses a wheelchair. But that chair has never been a limit since we’ve come to know him. It’s been a platform from which he has built worlds.

“And the tool that made that possible wasn’t a pen or a keyboard, but eye gaze technology.

“Every word, every sentence, every chapter of this dark and complex novel was written, not through touch, but through determination; through the steady, patient, deliberate act of writing with his eyes.

“That’s more than a process. That’s perseverance in its purest form,” he added.

For two years, Niall revealed, Cullen worked tirelessly, collaborating with the Shadow Script team to bring his imagination to life – not just to finish a book, as he put it,  but to build an entire universe of myth, darkness, and raw humanity.

“This novel isn’t just a dark fantasy. It’s a triumph of spirit, imagination, and sheer persistence,” said Niall.

“It’s a reminder that art finds a way, even when the body resists. It’s proof that the human mind, when fuelled by passion and courage, can overcome limitations most of us can hardly imagine.”

Pictured: Author Cullen Kennedy at the launch of his debut novel ‘Fireborn – Crown of Serraphion’ at the Huntsman Inn.