Joe McGowan is a mercurial character who is the construction industry equivalent of the loveable rogue Sebastian Dangerfield, the protagonist from JP Donleavy’s The Gingerman. Famously described by the Irish Times columnist Miriam Lord during his famed Mahon Tribunal appearance as resembling “Gatsby carrying a copy of the Daily Telegraph”, McGowan’s autobiography chronicles an age we shall never see again.

But Joe Mc Gowan is not just a builder. He’s a musician, a poet, a racehorse owner, and even a jockey with a winner’s medal for Ireland. Someone once probably said that only imperfect lives are interesting – and McGowan certainly produces an interesting chronicle of some of the raciest times (pun intended) in Irish political and social life. It’s a rollercoast ride of scandals, strokes and scoops. Describing parties with Ted Kennedy and encounters with Charles Haughey, this is a fascinating tale.

Published with Liberties Press.