Limerick author pens first book at the age of 79
LIMERICK native Tom Sheedy became an author for the first time at the age of 79.
With The Last Farm in Garryowen, he shares his account of growing up in what was then, rural Co Limerick during the 1950s.
Without ever leaving the land, Tom found himself living in the city by the time he grew up.
Written over the last two years from his hospital room at the foot of the Pyrenees in France, the book tells the story of a Limerick farming community.
At the time, the farming community was determined to maintain its culture and traditions even though the city suburbs were expanding.
Throughout his working life with Shannon Development, in particular Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, Tom helped maintain those traditions.
He retired to the Languedoc province in the south of France almost two decades ago with his late wife, Nellie.
In recent years, Tom has suffered a number of serious illnesses, including heart attack, sepsis and cancer.
While being treated and recovering in hospital, he started writing each evening about the fun and frolics, traditions and customs of growing up on a farm which has since become home to hundreds of people.
The Last Farm in Garryowen is the result of all those long evenings writing at Clinique La Pinède, Saint-Estève in the Languedoc region.
The book offers a unique insight into a way of life in Ireland, which, largely, no longer exists, and the story is told by a Limerick native who appreciates the values and talents of the generations who went before us.
Machinery and equipment may have been basic or non-existent but that didn’t stop the farmers from producing top quality produce and the methods they used to improvise and get the work done is dealt with throughout the book.
The Last Farm in Garryowen is available, in paperback, in several book shops across Limerick and can also be purchased online.