Gerard McCarthy (1949-2022): an appreciation
Gerard McCarthy died in the North West Hospice, Sligo on Friday, January 14th, 2022 in the early evening, a month or so after a diagnosis of cancer. His funeral took place on January 17th at St Colmcille’s Church, Rathcormac, Co Sligo, in whose cemetery he is now buried.
His brilliant and profound first book of essays, Old Istanbul & Other Essays, is published by The Irish Pages Press this month. After an unfortunate printer’s delay, the final bound-proof copy was placed in his hands the afternoon before his death, and the book’s final essay, At Algeciras, with its perfect last line at that moment, was read aloud by his partner Nora to family and friends assembled at his bedside as he lay medicated the next day.
The book consists of the eight essays he published in Irish Pages between 2006 and 2020. For now, there appear to be no other extant, completed essays.