Available at Kindle.com & Amazon.com books Irish - kindle unlimited - A memoir - Epic reading
Waiting For Walter
"O'Neill is a convincing writer and this book deserves ranking with Angela's Ashes."
The Irish Echo
When 38-Year-old Conner O’Rourke arrives in Ireland after an absence of thirty years, his life is in bits. His marriage is falling apart, his advertising agency in Australia is bankrupt, and he’s hearing poetic voices in his mind urging him to return to his childhood home. The island of Inis Mór.
His grandmother has contacted him, saying that she is dying, and must speak with him. But when he arrives on Inis Mór; a hauntingly lonely, starkly beautiful island in Galway Bay, she has already passed, leaving him a cottage and a dilapidated old sailing boat.
A mysterious old stranger appears, offering to help rebuild the boat and, as they work together, the old man tells Conner stories. Stories of absent fathers and lost sons. Stories that could help Conner regain a lost integrity, if he can muster the courage to follow his heart.
"The Secret of Inis Mór, puts one in mind of the great Irish writers such as Sean O’Faolain & Benedict Kiely." The Australian Irish Echo.
Growing up in his parent's hotel in Blackpool, Liam never knew why his parents fled Ireland. But he learned early to escape his father's demonic rages by slipping away from the Alexandra Private Hotel to the beach and the Kathleen R, the fishing boat that would become his refuge and his sanctuary.
At the age of eighteen, forced to flee the law in England, Liam travels throughout Europe, the war zones of the Middle East, and the mining towns of Australia, in a futile attempt to escape his inner demons, the same demons that destroyed his father’s life and caused his early death.
Waiting for Walter tells the riveting story of Liam's violent childhood, his descent into alcoholism and crime, his dramatic and inspirational recovery, and his passionate search for meaning and purpose. A quest that would ultimately lead him to the profound realization that it is only in helping others that one can hope to achieve peace and success one’s self.
Australian Woman's Day.
"From raw and compelling prose, a moving portrait emerges of Liam. From cowed child to fierce rebel and finally to an adult battling his own inner demons. This is a finely crafted memoir."
The Irish Echo
"Liam O'Neill is a convincing writer, and this book deserves ranking with Angela's Ashes. He mixes dialogue, narrative, and reflection in a story that is always gripping, often scary and sometimes funny. He is searingly honest, and if this work can bring help to other tortured souls, he deserves great credit." Frank O’Shea. Literary critic.
Liam O'Neill was born of Irish parents and raised in the English seaside town of Blackpool. After a troubled childhood, including a violent, alcoholic father, recounted in his memoir - Waiting for Walter - Liam traveled alone to Australia at the age of seventeen, running from his own demons and a growing dependence on alcohol. In 1967, he volunteered for the Six Day War in Israel, but later, disillusioned with that cause, he spent the next ten years traveling throughout Europe and Asia.
On returning to Australia, he worked for several years on cattle stations, mining camps and construction sites in the outback. Finally, after coming to terms with his own alcoholism, he married, started a construction company, and settled down to raise a family. He has published two books, with two more to be released in 2021.
Waiting for Walter. A Memoir - Part 1
Waking Walter. A Memoir - Part 2
The Secret of Inis Mór
A haunting, and challenging mystery, set on one of Ireland’s most beautiful islands.
Endor’s Way
A compelling murder mystery set between Australia and Ireland. Avail December 2021
