Michael Moynihan: Frank O’Connor’s book cover images show Cork life through a lens

There is a particular sheen to these pictures which is difficult to convey in words because it’s all in the image

Cork author Frank O'Connor. His stories about the Cork he grew up in are often claustrophobic, with all the petty snobberies born of narrow streets,

 I've mentioned the famous clip of Frank O’Connor and Huw Wheldon here before, and most readers are surely aware of it by now. The footage comes from the BBC show Monitor which was shot in Cork back in 1961, and in the clip O’Connor talks about the city’s influence on him, and its general significance.

“You don’t have to sell Cork to me, Huw,” he says to the interviewer. “After all, to me it’s the most important city in the world.”