01/10/2026
Next Week! Don't miss this very special event.
Book Celebration and Reception for Halcyon Day by Jane Flynn
Short Stories about music and life lived in west Clare
Event Date: Thursday, 8th October 2026
Event Time: 6pm
Location: Foust Gallery, Ennistymon Co Clare
Foust Gallery celebrates the Publication of Halcyon Day by Jane Flynn with an evening reception and short readings from the book.
At 6pm on Oct 8th, Foust Gallery hosts a very special event celebrating the publication of Halcyon Day by Jane Flynn, a vivid and deeply authentic collection of short stories rooted in the towns and landscapes of west Clare in the late 1970s and 1980s. The stories bring to life musicians, publicans, farmers, teachers and wanderers whose worlds collide in unexpected and quietly comic ways.
Many of the stories draw on the author’s own experiences after leaving America to settle in Miltown Malbay and marry into the rich musical culture of Clare. Her self-deprecating portrayals of her own life are honest and raw, revealing both the hardships and hilarities of finding a home far from where one began.
Jane Flynn first came to West Clare with her family in the summer of 1974 for a long holiday in Miltown Malbay. A few years later, she left her life in Philadelphia and moved to the cottage her family had rented and subsequently bought. She married sean nos singer Mick Flynn and became deeply involved in the traditional music community, collecting songs, singing at sessions and performing with Mick.
Jane studied English at Temple University in Philadelphia, graduating summa cm laude, and has had a lifelong interest in writing and research. Her short stories, many inspired by life in West Clare, have won prizes in the Image Magazine, Maurice Walsh and Bill Naughton Short Story competitions , and have been published in collections including the Phoenix Irish Short Story collections and Splinters 3. She had also a story which was read on BBC Radio 4. Her writing draws on her close observation of people, place and the often humorous, sometimes darker realities of Irish life and her life in America.
The reception will be a true celebration of the publication of Halcyon Day and of the lives lived in rural west Clare, especially Jane and Mick Flynn. There will be short readings from the stories and the book will be available for sale.
