A Greystones Childhood That Sparked A Bestseller

The young adventurer…

he may have hit the ground running in 1990 with the worldwide hit Under The Hawthorn Tree, and released 21 books in the years since, but around here, Marita Conlon-McKenna is probably most loved for her 1995 offering, Safe Harbour.

And that’s because this World War 2 children’s drama about finding bliss during The Blitz was set in her beloved hometown of Greystones.

Coming to The Whale via Halfway Up The Stairs for a literary legends love-in alongside fellow children’s book icons Tom McCaughren and Don Conroy next Saturday, we caught up with the bould Marita ahead of her return to the source.

To find out not only her own literary inspirations – having sparked many a young writer – the soundtrack to her youth, and, firstly, just how Safe Harbour came to be…

I had no intention of writing a book set in World War 11 as there were already so many good ones out there already, but kids in schools kept asking me to do one, and so did my own kids.

I kept getting a picture in my head of a girl down underground humming and singing, suddenly I realised that it was Sophie and her little brother Hugh, and that they were in a crowded air raid shelter during a German bombing raid in the London blitz. That night changed everything as their mum got badly injured and with their dad away fighting they have to be evacuated.

They are sent to Ireland to stay with their grandfather, whom they have never met and who doesn’t want them. I decided to bring Sophie and Hugh to Greystones, a place that was always my safe place, my safe harbour. Despite being homesick and lonely I knew Sophie would love the freedom of the sea and harbour. I wanted them to be able to look out at the the sea from their bedroom window, swim and play on the same beaches, the cove and the harbour, and hang out around the village and the Burnaby, just the way I did when I was a kid.

And who were the writers that played a part in a mother of three turning her hand to writing books…?

The very first big book series I loved was the Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House series, which was set in America and about a family of pioneers. I can remember reading every word and imagining I was there in the big woods or on the prairie with Laura and her family. I bought every single one with my pocket money and read them over and over again as they were so good.

James Plunkett

I love American writers, and their direct simple style of writing. Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women was another big one for me as I adored that it was about four sisters who were all so different and wanted different things in life.

John Steinbeck’s novels were so bleak and real that they made me get upset but I just had to read them. Which means that The Grapes of Wrath almost haunted me.

James Plunkett’s Strumpet City was the first really big Irish historical novel I read, and like Steinbeck, Plunkett threw me into the world of the 1913 Dublin Lock-Out. An incredible writer who is often overlooked. I suppose stories of people trying to survive with a sense of historical background even back then were my favourite.

Enda O’Brien’s The Country Girls was one book every young Irish women had to read. I loved it and everything else she wrote. O’Brien was such an inspiration, and kept on writing until just before she died. An icon.

And now for Marita’s tracks of Marita’s teenage years…

The Rolling Stones
I started listening to the Rolling Stones when I hung out with some of my friends older brothers and sisters in Greystones. From the opening riff, Satisfaction had me, and I just had to get up and dance. No matter where I am, I still have to get up. Growing up you were either a Stones or a Beatles fan, I was definitely a Stones girl, but now I’ve come to appreciate The Beatles too.

Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy were incredible, and the fact that they were a Dublin band and you could go see them live, made it even better. Phil Lynott singing Old Town still hits the emotions. Even the video for it was filmed in Herbert Park and places I knew. one brilliant song after another.

Horslips
Horslips had me hooked from the first gig playing Dearg Doom. I remember the original album, The Tain, and playing it all the time.

Simon And Garfunkel
Simon and Garfunkel were, I guess, the calm and mellow part of my growing up. Their songs were all stories, which is what I liked about them. When it came to The Boxer from their album Bridge Over Troubled Water, that song had it all…

Cat Stevens
Cat Stevens was a cool troubadour and lyricist with a great voice. I listened to him over and over again. The great Father and Son from Tea for the Tillerman is still a huge song for me.

Marita Conlon-McKenna, Tom McCaughren and Don Conroy will be interviewed by Patricia Forde at The Whale on Saturday, October 18th at 2pm – tickets here. More on Ms Marita right here.