On Monday’s Morning Focus, Pat Flynn was joined by Larry Brennan from Clare Roots Society and Elaine Shannon who is the daughter of Joe Shannon that assisted Joe in the completion of his book called ‘Hermitage’. Lucille Ellis who is the author of ‘Erasmus Smith House’ also joined the conversation. They discussed Clare Roots Society’s launch of two new books by Joe Shannon ‘Hermitage’ and Lucille Ellis ‘Erasmus Smith House’. Larry discussed the history of Clare Roots Society and the number of books that they have published since 2012. He also stated the level of research and work required in order to publish a new book. Elaine complimented her own father’s desire to put such effort and time into producing a book about the area he grew up in. She made reference to the amount of hours he spent collecting and gathering information regarding his local area of Hermitage. She also commented on Joe’s recent battle with dementia and described her family’s efforts along with assistance from Gerry Woods to help complete the book. Lucille mentioned her new book which is set to be launched called ‘Erasmus Smith House’. She spoke about her interest in writing the book and gave a synopsis of the book itself. The launch of the books are set to take place this Wednesday 22nd March between the Cathedral church in Ennis and the Maria Assumpta Hall.
You can listen to the full interview below.