‘I love this town’ - Donal Ryan launches latest novel in Tipperary hometown

The Nenagh Bookshop was full to the brim on Tuesday evening for the launch of local author Donal Ryan’s latest novel, ‘Where Are the Kings’. A significant crowd gathered in the small independent bookshop at the top of Pearse Street, where they were met with a wall full of Donal’s new novel. A selection of sweet treats and beverages had been laid out by shop owners John and Catherine Ryan, while a delighted Donal Ryan signed books for a queue of eager fans.

This is the second time in two years that Donal Ryan has launched a book in The Nenagh Bookshop, with 2024’s ‘Heart, Be at Peace’ similarly packing the place out in August 2024.

Donal is a very proud Nenagh man and has set several of his stories in either Nenagh, its surrounding villages or imaginary North Tipperary places that pull on elements of the locality for inspiration.

In 2017, as part of a conversation with Penguin publishers, he said: “The place I'm from, as well as being very beautiful, is as good and as flawed and as perfect as any place on Earth to set my stories. And while I love learning, I hate doing research for fiction - I get bogged down in it and frustrated by it - so it's easier to rely on the language and lexicon and landscape of my native place for inspiration, for raw material, and verisimilitude.”

On Tuesday night, that pride was once again very apparent, not only from Donal but also from the people of Nenagh and their pride in Donal for all his successes and continued dedication to his hometown through it all.

The Nenagh Bookshop owner, John Ryan, officially welcomed Donal and his audience, saying:

“A special welcome to Donal, his family and friends. It’s a real privilege for us to host this launch for one of Ireland’s most admired and internationally celebrated authors.

“I wish to thank Donal for his continuing loyalty to The Nenagh Bookshop and to Nenagh.

“Donal’s stories are rooted in life and community, yet they speak to the universal experiences of love, hope and resilience. His latest novel, Where Are the Kings, is written with an insight which is at times devastating, but also with Donal’s trademark empathy, warmth and humour.

“Donal, you write a great story, and Nenagh is justifiably proud of your literary achievement.

“Thank you very much.”

The microphone was then passed to another local author, Gerry Coffey, who Donal asked to read from Gerry’s book of poetry, a poem that was framed around the night of Shane MacGowan’s funeral in Nenagh.

Donal took the microphone next, saying:

“Thank you very much Gerry, that was gorgeous. Thanks, John. Thanks, Catherine.

“There’s nowhere else in the world I’d launch a book except this shop, and I’m glad you’re here. You’re two true booksellers and you’re the real thing. There’s nothing like an independent bookshop. It’s just a bastion of peace and safety and empathy. It’s a great place to be.

“And Nenagh is a great place to be. I love this town.

“Everything I’ve ever written, pretty much, except for a few dalliances in various parts of the world, like the Congo and Syria, was written in Nenagh. Actually, it wasn’t much different, really, with Africa and Syria. It’s kind of the same, thematically the same, you know.

“But my heart is always here, and the voices of Nenagh people, and my family and friends, and the people I love, and the people I grew up with, and the people who taught me are always in my books.

“And when you read this, you’ll see that the main character, Jack, has two uncles called Theo and Olly. And if you know my uncles Brendan and Seán, you might see some echoes of Brendan and Seán in Theo and Olly.

“Now, the characters are very, very different to Brendan and Seán, but just the idea of these two men who are full of kindness and good humour. Because Brendan and Seán, my whole life, always seemed to me to be in good form, and they always gave me great advice, like Theo and Holly do for Jack in the book.

“So thanks very much for that, and for all my Tipperary cousins and for my family here and Marie, without whom I wouldn’t write a word.

“No book would exist of mine without my wife, Marie. There’s a strong rumour, actually, in West Limerick that she writes all the books.

“Yeah, and she’s too shy to go on the radio or to have book launches, so she just makes me pretend I wrote them.

“And, in fairness, they’re not totally wrong, actually, because I wouldn’t write them without her. I couldn’t really.

“And my sister Mary, of course, who’s my chief PR officer and marketing manager up there.”

It was a great evening indeed for both Donal and his hometown, a great celebration of the North Tipperary town producing celebrated talent, of which there is a growing number in Nenagh throughout the arts.

Donal’s new book, ‘Where Are the Kings’, is on sale now in bookshops and online. It follows the story of 12-year-old Jack as he comes to terms with grief and wrestles with what it means to be a man.