Annacarty’s Paul Collins has a new book on Irish legend ‘Maeve’

Well-known Tipperary native Paul Collins was ‘the voice on the radio’ for many years as his conversations with Ian Dempsey in particular were listened to by thousands of people every morning on Today FM.

Now the popular Annacarty native, who has built a fine career in media outside of his time in radio, has moved into a new world with pen, paper and stylish graphic art with an excellent new book about Maeve, the ancient queen of Connacht.

It is a story close to his heart: “I suppose there is a saying that everyone has a book in them and I wasn’t sure I had but previously people would have said maybe a GAA book might be worth considering or a book on radio but unfortunately the solicitors have advised that it is probably best not to share the stories of commercial radio in Ireland so far!

“How this one came about was that my late mother Moira was from Knocknarea in Sligo which is a very nice, picturesque part of the world and she grew up at the base of Knocknarea mountain.

“After the pandemic I was up there and got an urge to look into the story of Maeve of Connacht who is apparently buried on top of the mountain there,” he says.

Currently Paul’s brother Gary is living in Annacarthy and is married to Alice O’Connor from Cappawhite. “They have four great children - Emmett, Gareth, Marty and Lucas” says Paul before elaborating on his close family connection with the rare, timeless landscape of Queen Maeve’s kingdom of Connacht: “Years ago, when myself and Gary were younger, we would go up to Sligo with our mother and father and we heard the stories of Queen Maeve.

“After the pandemic, I decided to look more into the story and I found out that the first ever colour depiction of Queen Maeve was actually commissioned in 1907 by the then US President Theodore Roosevelt.

“That was the first time in history that a visualisation of her in colour was created and I thought that was an amazing story to further underline the connection between Ireland and the USA.

“On further investigation, I found that it was a civil servant TP Gill, who had Tipperary roots, that introduced Roosevelt to the story and the President liked the idea of ‘The Warrior Celt’. He commissioned a painting for an article he was writing for a magazine in New York.

“That set the seed. From there I connected with a lady from Dublin, Suzanne Stapleton, and another lady from Thurles - Jennifer Ryan Kelly - who is a highly renowned Illustrator.

“Between the three of us, on zoom calls during covid, we came up with episode one of the reimagined story of Maeve.

“The name Maeve means ‘she who intoxicates’. Archeologists and historians debate whether she was real or not but as we used to say in Today FM, never let the truth get in the way of a good story!

“A couple of years later we have a 60 page graphic novella and for me this is the daughter I never had. I want it to be something for everyone.

“The mantra of our vision for Maeve is ‘Question and be brave. Find your inner warrior. Find your inner Maeve.’

“It seems to resonate with people. We had people from different parts of the world in touch to say they would like to plug into that concept to help people reignite their self esteem if they are feeling low so the ‘Maeve’ idea is broadening out.”

This week there is an art exhibition in Sligo showcasing the art that features in the book, as well as original music and poetry. The possibilities grow that the idea and story could develop in new directions such as in film and theatre.

Indeed the idea and story may broaden out to include other ancient Irish heroes as Paul explains:

“Being from Tipperary another chap you’d like to envisage in this world is Brian Boru. The former High King of Ireland was based in Cashel so where we are is that Maeve will be our main character in the first phase and we are hoping it will develop into ‘Legends of Éiru’ series.

“We did a roadshow recently to see what the feedback would be like and there was an overwhelmingly positive response thankfully so hopefully there will be further episodes”.

Over the years Paul Collins became a household name in Ireland via Today FM and after he left radio he continued to work in the media.

It is a lifelong journey: “I have been very fortunate that I have worked in a creative space for a good few years. Working in radio with Tipperary Mid-West is where I started and then I got the opportunity to work at Sky TV in the UK through UL and I ended up working in WLR in Waterford.

“It is a brilliant business for people who have ideas and I have had a good run of it so far,” he says.
Paul still follows the Tipperary teams closely and is always working pitchside on big days at Croke Park.

No matter where he goes now or where this new ‘novella’ on Maeve takes him, home will be home: “One of the big positives Tipperary has is quality of life and the fact that in other places your queueing for hours in traffic before your going anywhere so I think it is a big selling point for Tipperary.

“I have a company named Ballywire since 2007 and through that I have had a good few opportunities and projects to be involved in. After the pandemic sadly my parents passed away - Martin and Moira - and they were quite ill in their latter years, so since then it has felt like a new start and I decided to change lanes so today I’m full time in Ballywire. We do a lot of work with Local Authorities.

“We are very proud to support Tipperary County Council and we did some great collaborations with them, in fact the first ever online Civic Reception was undertaken by Tipperary County Council in the middle of covid, and that was to celebrate the anniversary of Bloody Sunday and also the Tipperary footballers centenary win in 2020, both of which were hugely emotional.

“The Civic Reception for Rachael Blackmore’s glorious wins was fantastic to be a part of too.”

Regarding ‘Maeve’ and the evolving story, it has been a labour of love for Paul: “It has been great. I’d just like to pay tribute to Jennifer Ryan Kelly for her stunning art work. The feedback has been fabulous.

“We are hoping we can ensure Maeve will be around for a good while yet.” The book is available to pre order online via maeveofconnacht.com and it will be available to buy in the coming weeks.