McGarry ‘the quiet man with the powerful pen’ 

Former President Mary McAleese paid tribute to Patsy McGarry when she launched his new book 'Well, Holy God' in Ballaghaderreen on Sunday, describing him as the “quiet man with the powerful pen”.

A large crowd gathered in Durkin’s in the town for the launch of 'Well, Holy God – My life as an Irish, Catholic, Agnostic Correspondent'.

Partly autobiographical, the Ballagh native’s book takes the reader through his formative years and education to his time as religious affairs correspondent with the Irish Times in a period of massive social upheaval. He gives a personal account of growing up in the Catholic Church and of a faith lost when the stark realities of that Church became apparent to him.

Addressing the launch on Sunday, Ms McAleese said Mr McGarry was a classic example of the old expression: “it’s the quiet ones you have to watch”.

“A quiet man with a very, very, very strong, firm voice that he exercises like Séamus Heaney with his pen. ‘I dig with this’ and boy did he dig. And does he dig with that powerful, powerful pen that tells narratives that needed to be told,” she said.

During the launch, Ms McAleese spoke proudly about her Roscommon connections through her father, and revealed that she was also a distant relation of Mr McGarry’s.

She explained that she and the writer both took a great and “perhaps even an unusual interest in things ecclesiastical. 

“That probably is explained in part by the very religious atmosphere in which we were reared; the intensity of it, not to mention the surprising discovery that we share the same DNA.” 

Ms McAleese said she loved the book and read it in one go. “Not because it’s short, because it isn’t short. Not because it’s a light read, because it isn’t, though there is a lot of humour in it and a lot of great, wonderful colourful descriptions in it.”

She said it dealt with the very worst “you can imagine that human beings can inflict on one another. The very worst, the powerful, protected and fake pious human beings visited on innocent people, on vulnerable children again and again for decades - people who were held unaccountable. Until they weren’t, and they weren’t because of people like Patsy digging with his pen.

“And determined that no matter what, the great walls of opposition and resistance and protectionism were coming down brick by brick, word by word, by powerful word. So that’s why the book is brilliant. That’s why it’s captivating from beginning to end,” she said.

Mr McGarry’s sister Sinead told the gathering that it was fitting Mary McAleese officiated at her brother’s launch. “You and her have a shared interest in giving a voice to those who have been on the receiving end of unfairness, injustice or prejudice.”

In his address, Mr McGarry spoke about his continued love of Ballaghaderreen, a place that his family moved to in 1962 from Mullen, Frenchpark. He went on to pay tribute to the work of Mary and her husband Martin McAleese, and their significant contribution to the peace process.

“We do not know, because most of this was done behind the scenes, how much we owe to Mary and Martin for the peace there is today on this island.” 

MC at the book launch was Mary Cunniffe.