Read an extract on Books Ireland Magazine >> , November,2023
Listen back to Anton Savage interviewing Brendan Kelly on The Hard Shoulder, 31 October 2023
“A keen sense of curiosity permeates all of Kelly’s books. It is an infectious and endearing trait, which spurs his research as well as the reader on, and his writing is nimble and confident.” - The Irish Times, September 2023
Listen back: Brendan Kelly on Today with Clare Byrne, 19 October 2023
"One central premise of this insightful book is that the constantly increasing numbers of patients being admitted meant that, no matter how laudable the intentions of staff, the focus always shifted from coping with the needs of individuals to simply keeping these overcrowded institutions running. As Kelly puts it, “The societal hunger for simple solutions to complex problems leads to the use of institutions to meet complicated social needs which often have little to do with the original purpose of the establishment.”
But even if this caused Grangegorman to be ultimately dysfunctional, Kelly chronicles both the good and the darker aspects of life in a place that became home to thousands who lived out their days hidden in plain sight behind walls that the public hurriedly walked past, just off the North Circular Road."
'Book review: Asylum an insightful look into the good and bad of a place hidden in plain sight' Dermot Bolger, Business Post, October 2023
“Brendan Kelly gives us a fascinating glimpse inside Grangegorman and the lives of those who lived and worked there.” - The Dublin Gazette, October 2023
