Live Report: Novelist Dan Mooney opens Mother Macs' 'Stories, Sips and Song' series

Mother Macs pub in the heart of Limerick city is the definition of a traditional pub with a twist.

The award winning home of craft beer in Limerick have recently announced a six week series called: 'Stories, Sips and Song'.

Funded by the Night-Time Economy Support Scheme, the series will see various Limerick musicians, artists and creatives greet a small crowd to "discuss their artistic journey and its relationship to words, song and sips."

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With a limited capacity of 20 lucky ticket-holders, the first in the series sold out almost immediately.

First up to the chopping block was novelist, rugby commentator, thespian, and all-round Limerick head, Daniel Mooney.

Peggy's Parlour in the back of Mother Macs bar made for a cosy venue, with the audience and Mooney packed in nice and tightly.

Incredibly charismatic and humorous, it was odd to see Mooney visibly nervous for the event.

The author kicked off the night by giving the audience a quick layout on how he was planning to run the evening - none of which came to fruition of course, it was only inevitable with a gang of chatty Limerick folk.

To begin, Mooney revealed a realisation he had recently come to, whereby he discovered nothing meaningful he'd ever done had been done alone.

The author spoke about his school experience, and how it had led to him studying for an arts degree in English and Philosophy in Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. He spoke about the support his parents gave him throughout and how, despite his father's confusion at what he'd actually do with the degree, he wouldn't have gotten through it without them.

Mooney moved on to look at the process of writing his first novel, Me, Myself and Them, where he realised he couldn't have written it without the support of his family, his degree, the desk his wife gifted him to support his writing, and so on.

He then spoke about the concept of writing a novel, and how he always found the concept of taking a small thought that stemmed in the back of your mind and creating something with it, extremely interesting. This led to the first track of the evening, which the novelist said perfectly encapsulated this concept, and was written by a friend of his - Emma Langford.

After sitting and taking in the lyrics in the track, Mooney turned to explaining his writing process in more detail. He detailed the two types of writers: planners and pantsers. There are those who meticulously plan each part of their novel - which is the category Mooney falls into - or there are pantsers - those who can just sit down and write, flying by the seat of their pants.

This analogy had the room full of laughter as the audience figured out what type they were.

At this point, Dan announced he has just signed a contract for his third novel. Yet to have a release date confirmed, his third book's working title is The 14th Storm. This news was met by a thunderous round of applause - the audience was clearly thrilled at the prospect of another Mooney work coming their way soon.

Returning to the sips and song portion of the evening, Dan discussed songs and bands that help him get in the zone - along with his opinions about Ernest Hemingway's famous quote: "write drunk, edit sober." Mooney's musical clarity lies in The Eels, whom he thinks sets the perfect tone for concentration and creativity. On Hemingway's quote - the author laughingly revealed that anything he has written drunk had definitely not been good.

The next song of the evening came, of course, from The Eels.

After taking a moment to discuss the song and band, Mooney welcomed questions from the exclusive audience. The most striking question asked touched on the sense of place in his novels and his minute use of Limerick-isms throughout. Admitting that a lot of his own life makes its way into his novels, Mooney took a moment to tell the family stories that find have inspired his work, and told the crowd how easily you can make out which Limerick pubs have ended up in his first two novels.

The night ended on the Q&A section, with Mother Macs' announcing that Emma Langford will host the next week in the series.

This fantastic initiative is a wonderful idea by the publicans, fostering a real sense of culture in the city, and delving deeper into the stories behind the Limerick characters well known and loved.

'Stories, Sips & Song' is a free-of-charge series, running every Tuesday for the next five weeks. More information is available via Mother Macs website and social medias.

Tickets now available from https://t.co/HIevIcEFJj@ELangfordMusic pic.twitter.com/cdrvViHfnz

— Mother Macs (Limerick, Ireland) (@mothermacspub) September 21, 2022