Matt D’Arcy & Old Newry Whiskies by Micheal McKeown, published by Old Newry Publications, priced £11.99
THE venerable inheritance of whiskey distilling in Newry going back a thousand years has been presented in a new book by Newry-based businessman and historian Michael McKeown called
This city's association with whiskey goes back to before the time of the Cistercian monks who founded their monastery in Newry in 1157.
Some 400 years later, the rent roll of Nicholas Bagenal, who took over the monastic property, revealed that the most extensive and valuable property in Newry was the “Queen’s Backhouse & Brew-house.”
There is later reference to a whiskey distiller in 1600 in Newry, affording the town the accolade of the oldest recorded licensed whiskey manufactory in Ireland.
The author, himself from a background of wine and spirit merchants, formulated two directly related ambitions some years ago; to write the history of old Newry whiskies and to reestablish the former Matt D’Arcy distillery premises in Monaghan Street as a going concern for the 21st century.
There are many interweaving elements in this book; as a historian, and publisher of the celebrated Book of Newry in 2009, McKeown is first and foremost a gatherer of facts; as a businessman, he understands and articulates the tensions, challenges and struggles of entrepreneurial endeavour.
?But there is another factor in the compilation of a history, what might be termed the mystical element.
The central figure in this story, Matt D’Arcy, was born in Carlingford in 1791; at age 26, backed by an inheritance from his father, he entered partnership with two distillers in Newry.
Through him, what was dead and long forgotten McKeown makes alive again. The young Matt D’Arcy again moves through Irish-speaking Omeath and up along the busy canal en route to Newry to seek his fortune; and there in the distance and rising clear, is the huge shape of the distillery at Dromolane, to its right the great square chimney of the Monaghan Street premises.
But the book also looks forward – that is, to the completion of the new Matt D’Arcy distillery a hundred years after its demise. It involves a distillery, restaurant, Victorian bar and visitor centre, a £7.3m investment in the original site – and the company’s first whiskies are already available.
Peter Makem
BOOK OF THE WEEK
A Promised Land by Barack Obama is published in hardback by Viking Books, priced £35 (ebook £15.99)
THIS isn’t Barack Obama’s first memoir, but he still takes us through a whistle-stop tour of his life before his presidency. In the first of a two-volume series, the 44th US president chronicles his first two and a half years in office with a knack for simplifying even the most complex political processes, and decades-long conflicts. A Promised Land is never hard going, but – inevitably for a 701-page tome – some chapters are more compelling than others. Where it really comes to life is when Obama lets down his guard and gives us a glimpse of the swearing, cigarette-smoking, martini-drinking man behind the myth, offering deliciously acerbic assessments of world leaders. Exasperation is a recurring theme as the idealistic Obama butts heads with adversaries at home and abroad – it’s reassuring to learn that even the most powerful man on the planet felt helpless at times, and a delight to discover what was really going on behind that seemingly unflappable exterior.
Katie Wright
There’s No Such Thing As An Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumura, translated by Polly Barton, is published in paperback by Bloomsbury, priced £12.99 (ebook £7.49)
IS THERE a job out there that requires no reading, no writing, and, if possible, no thinking at all? This is what the protagonist in Kikuko Tsumura’s latest work is searching for. She’s thoroughly burnt out and feels unable to face the working world’s requirements. After trying five seemingly banal job roles, she finds each time there are hidden mysteries that spark her interest and help her realise her own capability. Tsumura’s heroine offers some kinship for all those who have often wondered whether a job is right for them, or if the way society views work makes any sense. With hints of magical realism and a quirky approach to chronicling burnout, the novel’s slow approach and focus on the minutiae might lose its readers’ interest. However, There’s No Such Thing As An Easy Job could be a soothing balm for those pondering some of life’s deeper questions on the nature of how we occupy our time.
Rosemin Anderson
CHILDREN’S BOOK OF THE WEEK
Where Snow Angels Go by Maggie O’Farrell, illustrated by Daniela Jaglenka Terrazzini, is published in hardback by Walker Books, priced £14.99
WHERE do snow angels go? According to this beautifully illustrated book written by Coleraine-born Maggie O'Farrell, the impressions left in the ground eventually melt and fade to become our guardians looking on from above. This is a good job, as Sylvie has a habit of finding herself in some scary situations, brought to life with inventive descriptions. Kids will love the daring protagonist – Sylvie is a young girl not afraid to break the rules, inquisitive enough to push her protector’s limits and defined by her caring nature. This debut children’s story from O'Farrell, winner of this year's Women's Prize for Fiction for her novel Hamnet, is an imaginative tale and a genuine heart-warmer for winter.
Sean Coyte
