A Border Station

‘Here is a … writer with immense confidence and vitality. He has an extraordinary feeling for place and landscape.’ – Jennifer Johnston

‘This is experience finely and skilfully distilled’ – Irish Times

‘Well-written and engrossing’ – Sunday Independent

‘These inter-connected stories are faultless in their execution and a delight to read’ – Sunday Press

‘Written with great sympathy and truth’ – Irish Independent

‘Beautifully wrought’ – Daily Telegraph

There is cold comfort to be had when you’re a young boy stuck in the middle of nowhere. The son of the local sergeant in an isolated Garda station on the border between Cavan and Fermanagh, his days are balanced between the brooding, taciturn presence of his father, whom he loves and fears in equal measure, and the reassurance of his quiet, gentle mother. His world is narrowed to bitter country lanes and petty disputes, filled with the characters he encounters – tinkers, publicans, farmers, and the tantalising older sister of his Protestant friend.

Amidst the drumlins and bogs, the boy’s imagination roams free and unfettered. And at night, lulled by the rhythm of his mother’s fleecy warm breathing, the boy finds solace. But now even that is threatened. Change is coming. It’s time to grow up.

Written as a collection of linked stories, Shane Connaughton’s debut novel A Border Station was widely praised on its first publication in 1989. It was shortlisted for the GPA Book Award.