The Ulick O'Connor Diaries

Ulick O'Connor takes us into the heart of Irish life in the 70s and 80s, evoking the streets and bars of Dublin with their now legendary characters: the world of the Abbey Theatre and that of the Gate Theatre of Michale MacLiammoir. He recreates the atmosphere and talk of the Anglo-Irish country houses such as Lexlip Castle and Tullynally, where he often stayed as a guest of the Guinnesses and the Longfords. He also reveals the secret part he played as a go-between for the Taoiseach, Jack Lynch. But O'Connor's stage isn't just Irish, it is international. In New York he makes friends with Viva, the star of Andy Warhol's infamous Blue Movie, talks to Robert Kennedy, witnesses the anti-Vietnam protests and the growth of the Civil Rights movement. In London he appears on Wogan, he dines with Alec Waugh and Paul Bowles in Tangiers, and in Stockholm he plays a practical joke on Edna O'Brien that unhappily misfires. Ulick O'Connor's diaries are entertaining, gossipy and a good read.