IN the year that the Cork writer Patrick Galvin died, my own Patrick Galvin was also in his final days. My father wasn’t distinguished or a man of letters: he had worked in the factories of Coventry from his early 30s, as a machinist, been widowed young and raised two daughters.

HIGHLIGHT of the Cork International Short Story Festival (Sept 18-22) will be a reading by, and public interview with David Constantine, winner of the 2013 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award at Triskel Christchurch on Sept 22.