Ronan Kelly

Colm Tóibín has called Thomas Moore 'the most influential figure in shaping the Irish political psyche'. In Bard of Erin, Ronan Kelly tells the story of Moore's extraordinary life - from humble beginnings in Dublin to glittering social and literary success in London (at one point his popularity was eclipsed only by that of Sir Walter Scott and his close friend Lord Byron). Ronan Kelly's biography is a gripping and definitive account of a great romantic figure.

'A stirring tale of the diminutive would-be duellist whom his friend Byron described as "Masking and humming, / Fifing and drumming, / Guitarring and strumming" in a way we'd not quite see again until the rise of Bob Dylan' Paul Muldoon, TLS Books of the Year

'Thanks to Ronan Kelly's enthralling new biography, [Moore] is about to become an important part of our cultural landscape again ... There hasn't been a better biography published in Ireland for many a year' Irish Independent

'Vividly absorbing ... an enthusiastic, persuasive and highly readable attempt to restore a full picture of the man ... Everything in this eloquent and intelligent life shows that Moore's achievement decisively transcended the "poetical"' Roy Foster, The Times

'a major reassessment ... scholarly and comprehensive ... Kelly makes it clear what fun Moore was' Irish Daily Mail

'This new biography of Thomas Moore delights in the reading. Ronan Kelly has done his groundwork well ... A substantial, highly readable examination of the life, social development and cultural significance of a figure who occupies a pivotal position in Irish history, both as an Irish writer of the Romantic period and as "Ireland's National Poet" of a pre-partition era' Sunday Business Post

'Definitive ... a fascinating story' John Montague, Irish Times