UNION NEWS
CLASS OF 1945 STUDENT PUBLISHES HIS FIRST BOOK
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Date : Wednesday, 15th November 2017
Brendan Flood is just about to launch his debut book â The Coup and Other Stories. Consisting of a collection of short stories written over the last few years. It is a âshotgunâ production as opposed to a rifle (Novel) made up of memoir & short fiction. It brings the reader on a journey of emotions from growing up in the 1930âs right up to date. This is a surprisingly great debut book and an ideal read for travelling, bedtime, holidays or to leave for a pick up on a coffee table.
So what makes this different to any other book? Perhaps itsâ the fact that this debut book has been written by one of Rockâs oldest Past Pupils. Here is his son Johnâs (class of 85) thoughts about Brendanâs journey from Referee to author!
âOLD SOLDIERS NEVER DIE â THEY ONLY FADE AAAAAWAY!â
Flashback to one of my earliest memories of Rock â going to watch the great Hugo McNeill lead the SCT to an extra time victory over St Maryâs at Lansdowne Road. 1977 â I was 10 and my father who I went to the match with â 49!
My love affair with rugby + rock had begun. Rock Boys Are We Is of course the anthem but funnily enough in our house we got great mileage out of the song sung anytime a player got injuredâ¦.âOld Soldiers never dieâ as it would always work its way somehow into the Happy Birthday medley that my mother (Breeda) would always lead.
Devastatingly for our family, last year mum passed away after a 4- year battle against cancer. The one thing that Mum did however was live the values of the Old Soldiers having fought an immense battle constantly rising back up every-time the illness thought it had the upper hand.
Mum continued to play her bridge up in Stradbroke, go to her golf club and have her coffee mornings with the girls. She went to every social possible and even managed to sweet talk Omar Sharif on the occasion of her 80th Birthday. She turned down his advances of course!
My father was naturally devastated when Mum was first diagnosed but typical of her spirit, she wanted to make sure Dad did not wallow. Keep up your interest in horse racing & the local Dalkey community but find something to do at night-time.
He had always enjoyed writing and had joined a local writing group. Through Mumâs continued encouragement, he started to dabble and found that he had a bit of a hidden talent.
After a dodgy start, he soon had a work published in the local parish newsletter & from there he had a story read on a local radio station. Then one day his tutor Ferdia MacAnna threw him a curve ball that reminded him of one of my dodgy passes from the base of the scrum back â why donât you write a book? I think you are good enough!
Amazingly, Brendan was 86 at the time â working with a dodgy PC handed down to him many years ago, struggling with arthritic pain in his arms and shoulders and not to mention the operation to remove some cancer that he too decided to get along the way!
Old Soldiers never die and the cancer was removed and Brendan took to the keyboards again. Story after story was written and all the time he continued to live with the burden of Mums illness.
On July 31st last year Mum passed away but she took great comfort from knowing that Brendan would be occupied with his writing.
I suppose we all have a coping mechanism when we lose a loved one â for me it was listening to music but for Brendan it was writing.
Now in his 89th year Brendan managed to pick himself up and organised to fly from Dublin to Sydney to visit us. Itâs bad enough taking this journey on at the best of times but for Dad â not a bother. Up he rocks up (no pun intended) not a sign of jet lag and on day 1 asks 4 questions:
Everyday Brendan took to the keyboards and wrote page after page of a racing yarn that he was working on. Inspired by events from characters he met through years of going racing, he spent hours developing the plot. How many times he re-wrote it, I have no idea but he just wasnât happy with the direction it was taking & was struggling.
3 weeks later, we are once again singing old soldiers never die â a suspected heart attack this time â although a close shave it proved to be false alarm! Two days later he is back at the keyboard.
After arriving back in Ireland, he decides that the book will never come off. Ferdia suggests that because his short stories are so good, why donât you focus on those and lets see where it takes you.? Thankfully Brendan had a hidden treasure of stories that he had written over the previous 3 years and he managed to whittle them down to 20 or so. Every single one had to be re-written and the old keyboards were once again doing overtime.
Amazingly, just over one year after the most traumatic time in his life and just before his 90th birthday Brendan Flood has had his first book published â The Coup and other Stories.
This is so inspiring on so many levels â firstly for Ferdia to recognise and respect that age is no barrier and that he should go for it and secondly for an individual at a later stage in life to grasp the nettle and have the drive, determination and ambition to succeed.
For anyone starting out on their career journey or struggling to get motivation in life you could do worse than consider the achievements of Brendan.
You might argue as his son, I am looking through rose-tinted glasses but the reality is that I find what dad has achieved is truly inspiring and one we as a family are so proud of.
Old soldiers never die? Too right there is too much more to achieve â remember Rock did win the cup in 1977 in extra time and Brendan is no-where near fading away! Book two has started and in fact he is interested in getting back into the coaching!
A proud ex-student from the class of 1945 Brendan sent his 3 sons (Mark 1981; John 1985 & Paul 1992) to his old Alma Mater right through from Willow Park. As a family, we recognise the sacrifices our parents made to put us through Rock and Dad epitomises this spirit of the college.
The final word as always from Brendan on his memories of Rock:
'Rock Memories â so many but twofold a) school b) Rugby Trainer.
a) School â I have so many but the stand-out event was VE Day - JUNE 6th 1945. We were due to start the Leaving Cert exams a few days ahead. I was a Dayboy, but went to study, after games and in the evening. At study on the evening of June 6th. - a Boarder - Iker Galasteigi- (who post school became a leading Basque) told me and two other Dayboys "to get lost"!
A Group of Boarders, decided to abandon study, travel to Dublin and join in the celebrations
at College Green. A riot developed in which they were involved. An inquest was held next day, in 'Rock - Fr. Dinan was President and a sanction was declared on those who were involved,- all debarred from sitting the Leaving Exam. This was rescinded two days later.
b) Rugby Trainer - When my son â Mark first went to Willow - a new priest there (Fr.Tom Nash) asked if I would help with referring something I had never done.
This lead, a few years later to my becoming an official Leinster Branch Referee. This in turn, resulted in Fr. Kilbride, then sportsmaster and trainer of the JCT, to invite me to take charge of the J 2nds.
1980 was annus horribils for 'Rock sports. Beaten in every competition, except one - our J2 won the League Cup. The win was notable not just for the reason outlined, but it was the first time ever, extra time was played. We played Templeogue in the final. A Draw at full time.
We were close to Easter holidays, so I expected a replay to be fixed, post Easter. Fr. Flavin, who lead the opposition, flatly refused this, saying the school never played Rugby in the Summer Term. He said he would play extra time.
The late Kevin Kelleher, who was the supremo of schools rugby, was there to present the cup. He said, "You can't do that -it is never done in schools Rugby "
I was so mad at the Rev. Flavin - I asked the lads "How about it" - we played on and won.
We presented the cup, on the steps to Fr. Kilbride, but he never placed it, as was tradition, on display in the college Library. I never knew why and the boys were a disappointed lot. My punishment for winning, was demotion next year to the House 4ths.
Actually, it brought about my most enjoyable times with the various House Teams, over the ensuing years. I blew the final whistle as Trainer, when involved with the House 2nds., we met in the Final, of the Senior Schools League Cup, our very own Castle 2nds. The match was played in Donnybrook, which was important for two reasons. First it was prestige for the team and second I reckoned that the sense of occasion would "get to" the opposition's, talented but nervy Out-half. It so happened that early in the game we were penalised in a kickable position - the nervy guy took it and missed - from thereon we were always going to win. We did, and after 20 happy years, hung up my boots.
That was a super team led by Johnny Grehan, typical of the true spirit of the many I was privileged to know.
Brendan launches his first book
The Coup and Other Stories:
When: Sunday 26th November 2017.
Where: NORTHOVER HALL, ST PATRICKS, HARBOUR ROAD, DALKEY, CO DUBLIN
TIME: 15.00pm
If you are interested in attending please email thefloodcoup@gmail.com or else you can order your book via this link.
The Coup & Other Stories will also be available to purchase through Amazon / Kindle
So what makes this different to any other book? Perhaps itsâ the fact that this debut book has been written by one of Rockâs oldest Past Pupils. Here is his son Johnâs (class of 85) thoughts about Brendanâs journey from Referee to author!
âOLD SOLDIERS NEVER DIE â THEY ONLY FADE AAAAAWAY!â
Flashback to one of my earliest memories of Rock â going to watch the great Hugo McNeill lead the SCT to an extra time victory over St Maryâs at Lansdowne Road. 1977 â I was 10 and my father who I went to the match with â 49!
My love affair with rugby + rock had begun. Rock Boys Are We Is of course the anthem but funnily enough in our house we got great mileage out of the song sung anytime a player got injuredâ¦.âOld Soldiers never dieâ as it would always work its way somehow into the Happy Birthday medley that my mother (Breeda) would always lead.
Devastatingly for our family, last year mum passed away after a 4- year battle against cancer. The one thing that Mum did however was live the values of the Old Soldiers having fought an immense battle constantly rising back up every-time the illness thought it had the upper hand.
Mum continued to play her bridge up in Stradbroke, go to her golf club and have her coffee mornings with the girls. She went to every social possible and even managed to sweet talk Omar Sharif on the occasion of her 80th Birthday. She turned down his advances of course!
My father was naturally devastated when Mum was first diagnosed but typical of her spirit, she wanted to make sure Dad did not wallow. Keep up your interest in horse racing & the local Dalkey community but find something to do at night-time.
He had always enjoyed writing and had joined a local writing group. Through Mumâs continued encouragement, he started to dabble and found that he had a bit of a hidden talent.
After a dodgy start, he soon had a work published in the local parish newsletter & from there he had a story read on a local radio station. Then one day his tutor Ferdia MacAnna threw him a curve ball that reminded him of one of my dodgy passes from the base of the scrum back â why donât you write a book? I think you are good enough!
Amazingly, Brendan was 86 at the time â working with a dodgy PC handed down to him many years ago, struggling with arthritic pain in his arms and shoulders and not to mention the operation to remove some cancer that he too decided to get along the way!
Old Soldiers never die and the cancer was removed and Brendan took to the keyboards again. Story after story was written and all the time he continued to live with the burden of Mums illness.
On July 31st last year Mum passed away but she took great comfort from knowing that Brendan would be occupied with his writing.
I suppose we all have a coping mechanism when we lose a loved one â for me it was listening to music but for Brendan it was writing.
Now in his 89th year Brendan managed to pick himself up and organised to fly from Dublin to Sydney to visit us. Itâs bad enough taking this journey on at the best of times but for Dad â not a bother. Up he rocks up (no pun intended) not a sign of jet lag and on day 1 asks 4 questions:
- How are we doing?
- Where is the TAB (local bookies!)
- When are we going to Randwick Races?
- Have you got a computer I can use?
Everyday Brendan took to the keyboards and wrote page after page of a racing yarn that he was working on. Inspired by events from characters he met through years of going racing, he spent hours developing the plot. How many times he re-wrote it, I have no idea but he just wasnât happy with the direction it was taking & was struggling.
3 weeks later, we are once again singing old soldiers never die â a suspected heart attack this time â although a close shave it proved to be false alarm! Two days later he is back at the keyboard.
After arriving back in Ireland, he decides that the book will never come off. Ferdia suggests that because his short stories are so good, why donât you focus on those and lets see where it takes you.? Thankfully Brendan had a hidden treasure of stories that he had written over the previous 3 years and he managed to whittle them down to 20 or so. Every single one had to be re-written and the old keyboards were once again doing overtime.
Amazingly, just over one year after the most traumatic time in his life and just before his 90th birthday Brendan Flood has had his first book published â The Coup and other Stories.
This is so inspiring on so many levels â firstly for Ferdia to recognise and respect that age is no barrier and that he should go for it and secondly for an individual at a later stage in life to grasp the nettle and have the drive, determination and ambition to succeed.
For anyone starting out on their career journey or struggling to get motivation in life you could do worse than consider the achievements of Brendan.
You might argue as his son, I am looking through rose-tinted glasses but the reality is that I find what dad has achieved is truly inspiring and one we as a family are so proud of.
Old soldiers never die? Too right there is too much more to achieve â remember Rock did win the cup in 1977 in extra time and Brendan is no-where near fading away! Book two has started and in fact he is interested in getting back into the coaching!
A proud ex-student from the class of 1945 Brendan sent his 3 sons (Mark 1981; John 1985 & Paul 1992) to his old Alma Mater right through from Willow Park. As a family, we recognise the sacrifices our parents made to put us through Rock and Dad epitomises this spirit of the college.
The final word as always from Brendan on his memories of Rock:
'Rock Memories â so many but twofold a) school b) Rugby Trainer.
a) School â I have so many but the stand-out event was VE Day - JUNE 6th 1945. We were due to start the Leaving Cert exams a few days ahead. I was a Dayboy, but went to study, after games and in the evening. At study on the evening of June 6th. - a Boarder - Iker Galasteigi- (who post school became a leading Basque) told me and two other Dayboys "to get lost"!
A Group of Boarders, decided to abandon study, travel to Dublin and join in the celebrations
at College Green. A riot developed in which they were involved. An inquest was held next day, in 'Rock - Fr. Dinan was President and a sanction was declared on those who were involved,- all debarred from sitting the Leaving Exam. This was rescinded two days later.
b) Rugby Trainer - When my son â Mark first went to Willow - a new priest there (Fr.Tom Nash) asked if I would help with referring something I had never done.
This lead, a few years later to my becoming an official Leinster Branch Referee. This in turn, resulted in Fr. Kilbride, then sportsmaster and trainer of the JCT, to invite me to take charge of the J 2nds.
1980 was annus horribils for 'Rock sports. Beaten in every competition, except one - our J2 won the League Cup. The win was notable not just for the reason outlined, but it was the first time ever, extra time was played. We played Templeogue in the final. A Draw at full time.
We were close to Easter holidays, so I expected a replay to be fixed, post Easter. Fr. Flavin, who lead the opposition, flatly refused this, saying the school never played Rugby in the Summer Term. He said he would play extra time.
The late Kevin Kelleher, who was the supremo of schools rugby, was there to present the cup. He said, "You can't do that -it is never done in schools Rugby "
I was so mad at the Rev. Flavin - I asked the lads "How about it" - we played on and won.
We presented the cup, on the steps to Fr. Kilbride, but he never placed it, as was tradition, on display in the college Library. I never knew why and the boys were a disappointed lot. My punishment for winning, was demotion next year to the House 4ths.
Actually, it brought about my most enjoyable times with the various House Teams, over the ensuing years. I blew the final whistle as Trainer, when involved with the House 2nds., we met in the Final, of the Senior Schools League Cup, our very own Castle 2nds. The match was played in Donnybrook, which was important for two reasons. First it was prestige for the team and second I reckoned that the sense of occasion would "get to" the opposition's, talented but nervy Out-half. It so happened that early in the game we were penalised in a kickable position - the nervy guy took it and missed - from thereon we were always going to win. We did, and after 20 happy years, hung up my boots.
That was a super team led by Johnny Grehan, typical of the true spirit of the many I was privileged to know.
Brendan launches his first book
The Coup and Other Stories:
When: Sunday 26th November 2017.
Where: NORTHOVER HALL, ST PATRICKS, HARBOUR ROAD, DALKEY, CO DUBLIN
TIME: 15.00pm
If you are interested in attending please email thefloodcoup@gmail.com or else you can order your book via this link.
The Coup & Other Stories will also be available to purchase through Amazon / Kindle
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