On The Town: An in-depth biography of the great socialist, James Connolly, was launched by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, at Liberty Hall, Dublin, this week.
Connolly, "the social agitator who played such a key role in modern Irish revolutionary history cannot easily be categorised", Ahern said. And yet the new biography, James Connolly: A Full Life, by Donal Nevin, captures "that very richness, from Connolly's political activity, to his intellect, to his role as a family man struggling to make ends meet".
"The in-depth analysis of Connolly's speeches, his contributions to journals and his many letters enable us to trace the evolution of his thinking from his early writings . . . to his final contribution to the Irish Proclamation in 1916," Ahern added.
Among those who attended the launch were Connolly's grandson, Brig Gen James Connolly; Catherine Byrne, of teachers' union Into; Brendan O'Donnell, of Siptu's national executive; and historian and broadcaster John Bowman, who also spoke at the event.
Two other books, both published by Hot Press, were also launched on Monday. Declan Lynch's third novel, The Rooms, and Dermod Moore's first book, Diary of a Man, were launched by singer and novelist Marsha Hunt in Dublin's Mansion House.
Diary of a Man is "about gay men and how we relate to our sexuality and sex drive . . . and I was always trying to describe that world to those who were not part of it", said Moore.
"I wrote it like a letter home," he added.
Lynch, who was there with his wife, Caroline Hughes, and their family, said his book is a love story but the character's relationship with drink forms part of the crisis that "kicks in".
James Connolly: A Full Life, by Donal Nevin, is published by Gill and Macmillan
Diary of a Man, by Dermod Moore, and The Rooms, by Declan Lynch, are both published by Hot Press Books