Taken from “The Kerryman” (June 2018):

Take the Con Houli­han Trail to find out more about a lit­er­ary great

 

THE Latin quar­ter, Castleis­land Rugby Club, the River Maine and Sli­abh Luachra are just some of the places cred­ited with stok­ing the first flames of imag­i­na­tion in the bril­liant mind of the late Con Houli­han. Few writ­ers were as per­cep­tive as Con when it came to cap­tur­ing the un­canny and the won­der­ful in sport­ing oc­ca­sions. Once Con put pen to pa­per he could sell a Don­key Derby as though it were an Ep­som Derby such was his gift for all things colour­ful. His prose is le­gendary and the new ‘Con Houli­han Trail’ was launched in 2017 by Castleis­land Cham­ber Alliance. The trail is an amal­ga­ma­tion of Con’s favourite places in Castleis­land which is an en­joy­able way to spend an hour wan­der­ing in the foot­steps of one our great writ­ers.

THE Latin quar­ter, Castleis­land Rugby Club, the River Maine and Sli­abh Luachra are just some of the places cred­ited with stok­ing the first flames of imag­i­na­tion in the bril­liant mind of the late Con Houli­han. Few writ­ers were as per­cep­tive as Con when it came to cap­tur­ing the un­canny and the won­der­ful in sport­ing oc­ca­sions. Once Con put pen to pa­per he could sell a Don­key Derby as though it were an Ep­som Derby such was his gift for all things colour­ful. His prose is le­gendary and the new ‘Con Houli­han Trail’ was launched in 2017 by Castleis­land Cham­ber Alliance. The trail is an amal­ga­ma­tion of Con’s favourite places in Castleis­land which is an en­joy­able way to spend an hour wan­der­ing in the foot­steps of one our great writ­ers.

Fif­teen plaques along the route con­tain­ing some of Con’s most mem­o­rable quotes is a trea­sure, while in­for­ma­tion boards with de­tails about Con’s life are very in­for­ma­tive. There’s a lovely bust of Con in the town that’s also worth a visit.

Fif­teen plaques along the route con­tain­ing some of Con’s most mem­o­rable quotes is a trea­sure, while in­for­ma­tion boards with de­tails about Con’s life are very in­for­ma­tive. There’s a lovely bust of Con in the town that’s also worth a visit.

Con lived for most of his life in Dublin but he once quoted the fa­mous poet Cavafy in a line that pays homage to his love of Castleis­land: ‘You’ll walk the same streets, grow old in the same neigh­bour­hoods, turn grey in these same houses. You’ll al­ways end up in this city.’

If you want to dis­cover more about Con then this is a great way to do so. Castleis­land is a town rich in her­itage and is one of the King­dom’s loveli­est gate­ways.

If you want to dis­cover more about Con then this is a great way to do so. Castleis­land is a town rich in her­itage and is one of the King­dom’s loveli­est gate­ways.

 

Also checkout the Maine Valley Post (local online newspaper) article: