by Maria McCarthy | 20 Jan, 2026 | Uncategorized
2026 has been marked, so far, by a nasty virus. I haven’t coughed so much and for so long since my first bout of Covid in 2020. Nonetheless, I have been keeping up with my weekly Substack posts, where most of my writing finds a home these days. Each week I wonder if I have anything to write about; each week I somehow produce between 1000 and 1500 words. Some of my recent posts have been about revisiting my singles collection, from The Unplayables to Comedy and Novelty Records. I also wrote about Joe Wicks and Me, after discovering that the fitness guru went to the same primary school as me. The last of these prompted a welcome email from an old schoolfriend whom I haven’t seen since 1978.
The promotion of Learning to be Irish continues with an appearance at Faversham Literary Festival on 21 February, as part of The Poetry Hub. See Events for more details.
I am open to invitations from book groups and writers’ groups that invite guest speakers.
A belated happy new year to my readers. I hope that January finds you in better health than me!
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by Maria McCarthy | 8 Oct, 2025 | Uncategorized
I have recently returned from a trip to Mitchelstown, Co, Cork, and took Learning to be Irish with me.
I took my book for a trip to The Vee mountain pass, to Mt Melleray, where the abbey has recently been vacated by a diminishing number of ageing monks, and on to Cobh, where we visited the Heritage Museum, which has an exhibition about migration from Ireland. It was a wonderful trip, on which I reconnected with my roots. I was listening to Jackie Kay on This Cultural Life recently, and she talked of finding an ‘affinity with the landscape’ when she visited Nigeria, after she found her birth father. I can identify with this.
You can read more about my trip, alongside 150 Canadians commemorating 200 years since the Peter Robinson settlers migrated from small towns in Ireland like Mitchelstown to Ontario. on Substack.
‘a fascinating exploration of culture and identity’
The Frogmore Papers reviews Learning to be Irish in Issue 106, Autumn 2025:
Maria McCarthy’s account of ‘learning to be Irish’ as a child of Irish migrants, born in England, takes many forms in this entertaining and consistently engaging collection, which comprises fiction, memoir and poetry. Learning to be Irish is a fascinating exploration of culture and identity and the connexions between them, and McCarthy writes with unfailing honesty and admirable candour. Her ‘Mitchelstown’ sequence of poems concludes: I’m Irish with an English voice,/English with an Irish heart,/floating forever between Holyhead an Dun Laoghaire…
Jeremy Page
Medway River Lit events
The fabulous River Lit Festival will be returning this November, and I am taking part in two events to promote my new book, Learning to be Irish.
The first is an author talk, alongside Medway artist Simon Mills, on 8 November 2025, 1.00 – 3.30 at Rochester Library, Eastgate, Rochester.
Events are on a pay what you can basis. You can reserve a place here.
The second event is an Author Fair on 29 November 2025, 11.30 – 2.30, at Nucleus Arts, Chatham. More details here.
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by Maria McCarthy | 19 Aug, 2025 | Uncategorized
Learning to be Irish was launched at Sun Pier House, Chatham on 19 July 2025. It was a truly joyful occasion with readings, music, a choir and Keogh’s Irish crisps! I have just received some photos from the event, by Michi Masumi. I am also sharing some comments on the launch and the book.
Maria with husband Bob Carling
‘A lovely mix. Really inspiring. The choir took my breath away, amazing, such enthusiasm and joyfulness was great to see. A great experience!’
‘You were amazing. Your readings just perfect and it was lovely to see you sparkle. You just looked so happy. Such a perfect day. Well done.’
‘Maria, it was a brilliant afternoon. I have started reading your book and I’m really enjoying it.’
Learning to be Irish has received a couple of 5 star reviews on Amazon, including this one:
An evocative read
Maria writes with great honesty and humour about her upbringing in Ireland in the 60s and 70s. Her stories will resonate with generations of Irish people, evoking vivid memories of an era shaped by emigration, religious conservatism, and shifting family expectations – a time when many faced tough choices between tradition and change, both at home and abroad. Sharon Murphy
I have also had some comments from readers:
Oast House Community Choir at the book launch
‘Your observations, recollections and subsequent revelations bring out the importance, which I believe too, that secrets cause far more trouble than the truth.’
Maggie F
A vivid, forensic analysis of her experience of Irish identity, growing up as part of an Irish community in England. Full of painful human experience but dealt with bravely after years of working it out. A great achievement and testament to ontological survival in a complicated world, I’d say […] I love the detailed descriptions of life in the McCarthy household in the sixties and seventies and her opening poem. Lots of echoes of my own experience of Irish identity.
Patrick
You can order Learning to be Irish directly from this website. Please do leave a review where you can, and help to spread the word.
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by Maria McCarthy | 5 Jun, 2025 | Uncategorized
The books have finally arrived, and I have been busy posting out orders and review copies. Also, I’ve been updating my Amazon author profile, which was so old the photo was from when I launched my first book, strange fruits, back in 2011. I’ve now linked Learning to be Irish to my author profile, so it no longer comes up paired with a book by another writer called Maria McCarthy as a purchase suggestion. Of course, I would prefer purchasers to buy direct from me, as authors and publishers are better compensated by direct sales.
There is much admin when a new book comes out, including stuffing books into jiffy bags, adding it to my Public Lending Rights and Authors’ Licensing and Collection Society (ALCS) accounts. ALCS sends me a couple of hundred quid once a year, which mostly comes from audio-visual fees, from a column I wrote and broadcast for Radio 4’s Home Truths in 2006. It must have be repeated somewhere in the world, several times a year. It’s well worth registering with ALCS to benefit from the different ways your work is reproduced and used as a writer.
My publisher asked for a few photos of me with the book, so I took some copies to the writing shed, where it was written.
I’m so happy to already have some feedback on the book, some from other second-generation Irish people, for whom it’s struck a chord. You can order your copy for £11.99 plus £2 postage (UK orders only) here: Learning to be Irish
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by Maria McCarthy | 20 May, 2025 | Uncategorized
Thanks to everyone who has ordered a copy of Learning to be Irish. Unfortunately, the first box of books to arrive was, in fact, a single book, which was partially stuck to the packaging. Heigh-ho, these things happen. So, I have orders ready to go out, and eco-friendly jiffy bags to pack them in, and eagerly await the unboxing of a full box of books in the coming days. Orders will be dispatched as soon as the books arrive.
Meanwhile, here is a picture of the back cover, on which some lovely people say lovely things about my book. Thank you, John O’Donoghue and S.M. Jenkin. Thanks also to Mark Holihan for the cover design, and to Michi Masumi for the author photo.
You can read an excerpt of the book, and find out more about how I came to write it, on Substack.
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2026 has been marked, so far, by a nasty virus. I haven’t coughed so much and for so long since my first bout of Covid in 2020. Nonetheless, I have been keeping up with my weekly Substack posts, where most of my writing finds a home these days. Each week I wonder if I have anything to write about; each week I somehow produce between 1000 and 1500 words. Some of my recent posts have been about revisiting my singles collection, from The Unplayables to Comedy and Novelty Records. I also wrote about Joe Wicks and Me, after discovering that the fitness guru went to the same primary school as me. The last of these prompted a welcome email from an old schoolfriend whom I haven’t seen since 1978.
