IRISH language author Jake Mac Siacais launched his second novel at the weekend in front of a large gathering including friends, family and the local Irish language community.
The West Belfast activist launched Marbhán Thíos Fúm at Cultúrlann McAdam Ó Fiaich on the Falls on Saturday, his fourth book in just two years – with two more on the way!
Marbhán Thíos Fúm is a fun-packed semi-fictional account of the shenanigans of a group of Belfast lads spending summer in Kerry, based on the author’s own time there in the 1980s.
It’s the second novel from Jake – the previous one, Tearmainn na Mara – was about an IRA unit smuggling arms from Libya. His autobiography, Ón Taobh Istigh, which included details of his time spent in the H-Blocks with Bobby Sands and the other hunger-strikers, was published in 2020, while the English version, Surfing into Life on a Bathboard, was launched in 2022 at Féile an Pobail.
And he shows no sign of putting down his pen. His fifth book, a collection of short stories, is with the printer and his sixth, a novel entitled Damascus, detailing the peccadilloes of an errant Irishman abroad, is already complete and with his publisher Coiscéim.
LAUNCH: Géaróid Ó Muilleoir, Dónall Mac Giolla Chóill, Pádraig Ó Snodaigh (Coiscéim), Jake Mac Siacais and Brónagh Fusco
At the launch of Marbhán Thíos Fúm on Saturday, chaired by Donegal Irish language journalist Dónall Mac Giolla Chóill, language activist Brónagh Fusco paid tribute to Jake and the work he has done for the language and the Gaeltacht Quarter.
“He and his wife Chrissie brought up their five children with the Irish language and I know he’s very proud of them and they are just as committed to the language as he is,” she said.
“Each book he writes is different but Jake brings his own unique experience to each one.”
Launching the book, journalist Gearóid Ó Muilleoir said Marbhán Thíos Fúm is part of a long and rich tradition of satirical books in Irish.
“The most famous of them is Myles na gCopaleen’s An Béal Bocht, which although it was published 80 years ago was recently voted by the public to be the best Irish book ever,” he said.
“It’s an irreverent send-up of how the Gaeltacht was viewed and Jake’s book is in that same tradition – packed with craic, but as is the case with all of Jake's writing, there’s plenty of political and social context.
LE CHÉILE: Fionnghuala Jake and Orliath Mac Siacais
“Although the characters aren’t real, everything else in the book is, and so we find out so much about the traditions, festivals, culture and history of the Kerry people and all that they hold dear.
“The late Raidió na Gaeltachta broadcaster Rónán Mac Aodha Bhuí used to always praise events that were ‘craiceáilte’ – ‘craiced’ or ‘full of craic’ – and Jake’s book certainly fits the bill!”
Marbhán Thíos Fún is on sale in the Cultúrlann bookshop, An Ceathrú Póilí, at £10.99.
