Author Brendan Lynch waited for 60 years to repay a debt to one of his Tipperary childhood village’s great characters.

Gunner Dan, a shellshocked WW1 veteran, is the subject of his new novella, which James Joyce biographer Peter Costello has hailed as, ‘an Irish classic in the making. The novel never misses a step. From beginning to end it reads flawlessly. The concepts of bravery, loyalty, honesty and kindness, and indeed love, are all deftly explored.’

Suitable for young adult as well as general readers, The Old Gunner and his Medals records the veteran’s search for his medals, which he had to hide when he returned to revolutionary Ireland in 1919.

‘Dan headed home in the sun. He marvelled at the greenery, birdsong and the pleasure of a pint and good company. Peace was a precious gift. His was a great country to be in at summertime.

‘But, going up the hill to his house, he stopped with a start. He recalled the fearful night three decades earlier, when he’d buried his decorations. Ireland had not been such a wonderful country then. Many fellow-veterans had been killed. “Youse may get me, but you’ll never lay hands on me decorations,” he’d determined.’  

The book relates the Gunner’s disappointment at losing long-haired Jane, the love of his life who, having been warned off speaking to him, emigrated to England. And how he dealt with his travails and finally unearthed his decorations after a thirty-year search.

Jane returned to Dan in his last dreams; ‘He was smiling to himself. He dreamt that Jane O’Brien had come back from England and was nursing him. There was a lot to be said for being ill! Her dark hair swung, as she bent over the pillow and admired his medals. How happy he was that she could finally see them. Jane looked so fresh and beautiful, she had not aged like him and their other schoolmates. She put a record on a new mahogany gramophone and sat down beside him...’  

Brendan says, ‘Writing can be demanding and I owe a great debt to my wife Margie, whom I met by accident twenty years ago in Asia. I’d be lost without her encouragement and support – she’s my muse!’