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Pre-Christmas Launch and Oíche Airneáil at Ráth Mór


Writer Conor Bowman at the cemetery in Castlepollard Mother & Baby Home, where he was born
Writer Conor Bowman at the cemetery in Castlepollard Mother & Baby Home, where he was born

COLMCILLE PRESS is hosting a pre-Christmas  launch and Oíche Airneáil at Ráth Mór’s Hive Studios on Friday, December 5.

Proceedings will open at 5.30pm with the launch of ‘The Half-Life of Edith Hopkins and Other Stories’, new fiction collection centring on the Tuam Mother & Baby Home, penned by barrister Conor Bowman. 

Following on from this, the guitar virtuoso and recent author, Colum Arbuckle, and his guests will serve up music and chat.

Then, for those out searching for that special Christmas gift, there’ll be a chance to get signed copies of books by authors from the Colmcille Press stable, many of whom will be in attendance.

Work published by CCP in 2025 includes: Felicity McCall’s short-story collection, ‘What We Did on Our Holidays’; Colum Arbuckle’s memoir, ‘Radio, Romance & Rock’n’Roll’; Paul Laughlin’s poetry collection, ‘Dorn San Aer: Filíocht ó Dhoire go Gaza’; ‘Flight of the Swallows: Journeys of Lived Experiences’ by the Foyle Foodbank;  Paul Gosling’s political critique, ‘A New Ireland, A New Union: A Five Year Review’; The Handy Wee Derry Quiz Book (edited by Garbhán Downey & Joseph Martin); and Deirdre Devine’s new collection, ‘Carrying Light: A Life in Poetry’. 

All these titles and dozens more – and, of course, Conor Bowman’s new collection – will be available to purchase on the night.

Proceedings get underway at 5.30pm, admission is free, and light refreshments will be provided.


Conor Bowman SC is a highly-acclaimed writer with nine titles under his belt including one in Irish. 'The Half-Life of Edith Hopkin and Other Stories' begins with a novella (the title story), which tells of a teenaged mother whose infant baby is removed from her at the Tuam home in the 1960s and how her life unfolds in the aftermath. It is a nuanced, compassionate and elegant tale, made more significant by the fact that the author himself was born in the Castlepollard Manor Mother & Baby Home in 1965. 


Full interview with Conor Bowman by Garrett Hargan from the Belfast Telegraph, November 24, 2025 here.



 
 
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