★‘LIVING LIVES: A BIOGRAPHER’S JOURNEY’★

•At a reception hosted in the wonderful Hodges Figgis bookshop, Dawson Street, Dublin attended by family, friends and fans, Anne’s latest book, ‘LIVING LIVES: A Biographer’s Journey’ was launched by former Taoiseach, Enda Kenny.

•An established and award-winning writer in the art of biography for over 40 years, from pirate, prince, patriot, prima-donna, playboy planter emancipator, to forgotten survivors of conquest, her biographies have rescued and reinstated the lives of some remarkable men and women.

•In ★LIVING LIVES★ we are introduced to the art and methodology of writing biography as Anne brings her reader along on her exciting and diverse voyages of discovery through epochs, countries and cultures.

•As Anne noted in her launch speech,

‘in this age of narcissistic captivation with the individual self
it comes as somewhat of a relief that through the art of
biography one can shine a light and learn about the life of
someone else, someone who made a genuine contribution to
their time on this earth’.

Grace O’Malley

Ireland’s iconic feminist trailblazer

The endurance and popularity of her biography reflects the sheer magnetism of its subject. Grace O’Malley (Granuaile) continues to enthral, inspire and capture the imagination of new generations of devotees worldwide as she undoubtedly first captured mine.

For many centuries Grace O’Malley was a victim of the mainly male orientation of historical record. While she had more than created her own legend, nonetheless, she never appeared in the pages of my school history books which left me to wonder, no doubt like many more, if she had ever existed. Despite the fact, as I subsequently discovered, her life is well documented in the Elizabethan State Papers and other contemporary collections of her time and her name enshrined in the famous 1599 Boazio map of Ireland (the only female leader ever so listed) it was her absence from Irish historical record that initially motivated my own interest

Delighted to attend the farewell reception for His Excellency, Shri Akhilesh Mishra, Ambassador of India and present a copy of my 'Ranji: Maharajah of Connemara' ... a reminder of Ireland and India's long connection.

My latest 'voyage' with Grace O'Malley 'La Reine Pirate' aired on ARTE TV France 3 February.

https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/131209-000-A/en-irlande-la-reine-pirate/