By Maria Duffy. First published on Wednesday 29th September 2010. 4 Comments so far.

A Pint And A Haircut – True Irish Stories for Haiti


If you follow me on Twitter, I may have filled your time-line lately with much squeeing and happy dancing. One of the reasons for this is that I’m having a short story published in a book called A Pint And A Haircut – True Irish Stories For Haiti. But you’ll already know that (remember – squeeing and happy dancing?)

I’m sure you don’t want me to bore you with the details of my own story, but let me tell you a little about the book and how it came about. Garret Pearse had been reading True Tales of American Lives by Paul Auster when the Haitian earthquake struck. He thought how wonderful it would be if he could do an Irish version as a way of raising money for Haiti.

So about my own story… ah no, only joking!

And so A Pint And A Haircut was born. It’s a collection of around seventy true Irish stories. The authors come from various walks of life and from all around the world. Now I did suggest we have a launch in each of the countries represented (just to be fair, you know) but Garret wasn’t keen.

Sometimes when the news flashes die down and the papers stop printing stories of a disaster, we tend to forget. It’s not on the telly any more so everything must be okay. Well it’s far from okay in struggling Haiti. Garret hopes that this book will bring awareness of the ongoing plight of Haitian people and all royalties will go directly to Concern’s ongoing relief work there.

Now I know you’re on the edge of your seat; waiting to hear all about my own story that’s included in the book, aren’t you? Yes? I thought so! My story is one that’s been told to me and my brother many times by our mother. It involves a lost engagement ring, a win on the pools and a car called Daisy. Mum and Dad have been married for 55 years and are very proud to have a story published about them.

And just in case this post is too short (because we all know how I hate to babble on!), it’s the third one in a blog tour. You can see the first one here written by Eolai gan Fheile, who’s painted the fantastic cover for the book as well as having a story included. The second one is by another one of the authors, Jane Travers, and you can see her post here.

And finally, the book should be available in all good book shops or order it online directly from the publisher, Londubh Books.

Maria x

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