Born on a farm near Newmarket in County Cork, Alice Taylor worked as a telephonist in Killarney and Bandon. When she married she moved to Innishannon where she ran a guesthouse at first, then the supermarket and post office. She and her husband, Gabriel Murphy, who died in November 2005, had four sons and one daughter. In 1984 she edited and published the first issue of Candlelight, a local magazine which has since appeared annually. In 1986 she published an illustrated collection of her own verse.
To School Through the Fields was published by Brandon in 1988 and was an immediate and unprecedented success, becoming the biggest selling book ever published in Ireland, and her sequels, Quench the Lamp, The Village, Country Days and The Night Before Christmas were also outstandingly successful. Since their initial publication these books of memoirs have also been translated and sold internationally. In 2008 and 2009 her latest memoir, The Parish was again a bestseller, in hardback and paperback.,
In 1997 her first novel, The Woman of the House, was an immediate bestseller in Ireland, topping the paperback fiction lists for many weeks. It was followed by her second novel, Across the River in 2000, and by her third, House of Memories in 2005. Alice Taylor is also a poet, and in October 2009 Brandon publish her fourth collection, The Journey: New and Selected Poems.
“She has become the most popular and universally loved author in memory.” Mail on Sunday.
Alice has thirteen published books and is currently working on her fourteenth. We met with Alice in October in Cork to talk about her prolific writing career and her books which have touched so many people across the world. Below you will find a podcast featuring Alice in conversation with Jho Harris.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
To listen now click the play button or download to listen later.
For more details on Alice Taylor’s books you can visit Brandon Books by clicking here.
Alice is one of 10 authors who have presented our special series of podcasts ‘The Writers’s Passage’ to listen to Kate’s episode featuring ‘To School Through The Fields’ click Here
The Writer’s Passage is a series exclusively produced for Podcasts.ie under the Arts Council of Ireland’s Literature Project Award.
In this series we are bringing you ten shows, each one detailing the location or locations from a well known book. In each episode the author of that book will bring us on a tour of the areas which are relevant to them and to some of the context within the pages of their book. The Writer’s Passage will bring you on a journey from Sligo to Roscommon, Longford, Kilkenny, Mayo, Tipperary, Antrim, Waterford, Cork, and Dublin.
#1 by Michelle Moloney King on July 18, 2011 - 11:43 pm
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Hi Alice,
My dad read your book, To school through the fields, to me as a child. Many’s a night would I be lulled to sleep listening to your amazing story.
Thank you for sharing
Best
Michelle
#2 by patricia on January 19, 2012 - 9:58 pm
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i think alice taylor is one of the best authors in ireland,she is able to write memories we all love to recall.her writing brings a warmth into your heart,we hope to hear alot more of her work.patricia
#3 by ellie duhig on March 27, 2012 - 6:58 pm
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I loved your Christmas book and especially the oak tree book, we’ll be staying in glebe house for 1 night 13th April, I would love to meet you, please write back.
ellie duhig
age 9
#4 by Frank O Sullivan on December 12, 2012 - 9:31 pm
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Dear Alice,
I am off once more to one of your book signings at the Killarney Book Shop
always a joy to read your books.
I was hooked from the first book and hope to re read the
whole lot again sometime they are like old friends I could
never part with them.
Frank O Sullivan.
#5 by Charlene on December 22, 2012 - 4:21 pm
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Hi Alice,
My great grandmother was born in Ireland and her family are Taylors. They came frome Cork and I know that Creegon in Aramgh (not sure if spelled correct) is some of the places they mentioned. Wonder if we are possible related.
#6 by Elizabeth McCaul Frausto. on March 27, 2014 - 12:23 pm
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Dear Alice,
It is a pleasure to hear you’re voice and excerpts of your book’ “Through school through the feilds. It really is comparable to my parents upbringing and many others of Irish herritage. My mom and family were so happy to have been at the launch of your books. I also would love to meet you one day.
Sinceraly,
Elizabeth McCaul Frausto.
#7 by Noreen R. Conley on July 11, 2014 - 3:01 pm
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I have read and loved many of your books. They bring warmth to my soul. The relationships and sense of community present in your books remind me of my own experiences within my Irish American family here in the U.S.A. My husband and I have visited Ireland often, and it is my dream to meet you on one of our trips. I have wanted to write to you many times, but my shyness took over. Do you do any writing workshops or perhaps a writers week? I would love to hear from you. Thank you.
#8 by ANNE CREAMER on September 8, 2016 - 9:09 pm
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Hi Alice
i have read all your books to date and look forward to your new one out in October. I read them over and over again. They remind me so much of my own family’s upbringing. they are certainly like old friends and I never tire reading the especially when I’m feeling a bit under the weather. Hope you continue to have your health to write many many more.