Liam Horan

A lot of helping hands.

What a night we had in An Sportlann at Castlebar Mitchels last night for the launch of I Can See It Still.

A huge crowd turned out, and the joy that has filled Mayo since July 26 was still very much in evidence. It was great to see so many familiar faces there.

I have a lot of people to thank. Bear with me…

Producing a book of almost 78,000 words in the short time since Mayo won the All-Ireland took some doing. It would not have been possible without the extraordinary generosity of people who read proofs, checked facts, challenged me and gently put me right when necessary. They made the book much better.

My enormous thanks to Helen Bree, Paul Bree, Dara Bree, Colm Burtchaell, Shirley Byrne, Stephen Carolan, Pat Conway, Dymphna Culhane, John Culhane, Sadhbh Culhane, Ethan Donnelly, Charlie Gilmartin, Mary Halligan, Liam Hennelly, Denise Horan, Ina Horan, Maurice Horan, Sinéad Horan, Brian Joyce, Orla Macken, Aidan Minnock, Aisling Moroney, Trevor Naughton, Marie Shannon and Kashif Zia.

For support of various kinds, thanks also to Louise Rooney, Teresa Horan, Nuala Gilligan, my colleagues in the Western Development Commission / Connected Hubs, Seán and Róisín McCormack, Michael Sweeney and everyone who helped track down an elusive piece of information or phone number.

A special word for Liam Hennelly, my publishing assistant throughout this deadline-driven process. His professionalism has been exceptional. And to copy editor Daniel Carey, whose eagle eye misses very little. That’s why I chose him.

A wonderful group of friends helped run the launch, just as they did for On The Way Out last year. In particular, Carolina Batista, Colm Burtchaell, John Culhane, Ethan Donnelly, Gerry Donnelly, Nuala Gilligan, Eimear Halligan, Gráinne Halligan, Mary Halligan, Oisín Halligan, Liam Hennelly, Brian Joyce, Matthew McCormack, Róisín McCormack, Bridgette Robertson and Catherine Sweeney all gave their time and talents generously. I value those friendships enormously.

And everyone will forgive me for singling out Seán McCormack, the undisputed Launch King. Seán is one of the most efficient people I have ever encountered. By the time you think of something that needs doing, he has it done.

Pat Conway kept everything moving as MC, while another longtime friend Jonathan Mullin conducted the Q&A with great care and, of course, humour.

The readings added greatly to the night. John Culhane told his wonderful story of trying to find somewhere to watch the All-Ireland final in the Basque Country. Colm Burtchaell confessed to the difficulties of being a Dublin man married to a Mayo woman during those never-ending Mayo-Dublin epics. Young Róisín McCormack and Saoirse Courtney recalled their experiences of  26July.

Saoirse and her cousin Cathal Halligan then sang us out with a terrific rendition of The Green and Red of Mayo.

Thanks also to photographer Trish Forde, Pat McGovern for the sound system, and Des Flanagan and Rachel Drury of Buy the Book, who looked after online sales on the night.

Castlebar Mitchels could not have been more accommodating when we had to change venue at short notice last week. The whole club rallied, and I am particularly grateful to Seán Kenny and Pádraig Jennings.

One final, personal note.

I dedicated part of I Can See It Still to three men known as The Last of the Summer Wine: my father Billy Horan, Michael Coyne and Tony Walkin.

Alas, Dad and Tony weren’t with us on 26 July. Michael watched Mayo’s triumph from his home in Rathredmond, Ballinrobe. It was a particular pleasure to have him at the launch last night.

I took the photograph here on the train to Dublin on St Patrick’s Day 2016. Dad, Michael and Tony, from left, were heading to the All-Ireland club finals. Castlebar Mitchels lost to Ballyboden St Enda’s, but Limerick’s Na Piarsaigh won the hurling title. Dad had strong family connections to that club: his brother Con was a former chairperson, and my brother Maurice played and coached football there.

Those three men were never happier than when heading to a populated field somewhere, anywhere, with a set of GAA goalposts at either end.

Thanks to everyone who came along. I’ll remember the night for a long time.

A little book business to finish: Des and Rachel have a launch-weekend offer running until midnight tonight. Buy two copies of I Can See It Still for €44, saving over 15%. The discount applies to two or more copies. Enter maigh eo in the coupon-code box when you get to the checkout here.

All pix from photographer Trish Forde are available here.