Tara Maher spoke with author Tadgh Coakley, who recently released his latest crime novel Dark Streets. Coakley is an award-winning novelist. His second novel Whatever it costspublished by Mercier Press, is the 2020 One City, One Book selection for Cork.
An avid sports fan, his articles have appeared in Stinging Fly, The Winter Papers, The Irish Examiner, The Irish Times, The42.ieAethlon, The Holly Bough, The Honest Ulsterman, Quarryman and Silver Apples.
Tadhg Coakley likes to focus on his culture in his novels. That’s what he does best.
The award-winning author from Mallow has written several award-winning works showcasing the determination and glamour of Rebel County and its sporting traditions in both his fiction and non-fiction.
Coakley’s journey to becoming a published author is a testament to his dedication. Although he always wanted to write a book, he never found the time. However, after retiring from CIT (now MTU), he completed an MA in Creative Writing at UCC and finally published his first novel in 2018.
Coakley’s love of thrillers can be traced back to his youth, when he enjoyed reading novels by Edith Blyton and Agatha Christie. This enjoyment of the genre is reflected in his own suspenseful works.
“As a teenager, I loved Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. I loved watching Hitchcock films and other thrillers of all genres, westerns or crime films. I read a lot of Scandinavian noir and wondered why no crime thrillers were set in Cork.”
In 2015 he began writing his crime novel, which was published in 2020.
Whatever It Takes follows Detective Garda Collins, a former hurling star from Cork City who is at war with local criminal Dominic “The Dom” Molloy.
The thriller was intended as a standalone novel, but as Coakley began to complete the story, he realized he was not finished with Detective Collins.
The second part, “Dark Streets,” follows Collins as he is “forced to confront the demons of his tormented past – a past that has its roots in his formative years at University College Cork and leaves him questioning the nature of justice and the path he has chosen to pursue it.”
As Collins digs deeper, the line between justice and vengeance blurs. Trust becomes a luxury he cannot afford, eroding as allies become enemies.
Coakley’s novels are predominantly set in West Cork, Collins’s native country. This setting allows Coakley to explore themes of home and love, and to personify local voices and their opinions, creating a strong sense of local pride and connection in the reader.
Writing about familiar things gives Coakley strength. While others dream of faraway lands, he finds inspiration in his own passions. Sports in particular are a strong motif in his works.
In his debut novel, The Third Sunday in September, Coakley tells the story of a fictional All-Ireland hurling final between Cork and Clare (too soon!) and the private lives of the players and fans who make the game such a spectacle.
These individual stories explore the highs and lows of our national sport and discuss underlying themes such as addiction, sacrifice and celebration.
Similarly, The Game describes the importance of the sport in the author’s life. He describes it as a “part memoir” exploring his time as a player and fan, and a collection of essays critiquing its influence.
“All my life I felt I should write. Now I’m catching up. No wonder I’ve published six books since 2018,” he said The Carrigdhoun.
Writing a novel can be daunting. Although it’s high on many people’s bucket lists, mustering the mental strength and dedication to sit down and actually write can be challenging, and very few make it to publication.
His routine is simple: “I go to my desk every morning and write all day.” When writer’s block hits, he doesn’t spend too much time thinking about it; he just moves on to the next scene.
He enjoys both the writing and editing process, which is unusual for writers. “I like correcting the sentences. I work hard on transitions, beginnings and endings of chapters. In this book there are two timelines that run parallel to each other. One timeline is from 1990, when Tim was young in UCC, and the other is from 2015, when Tim was kicked out of the Guard. Both timelines have to work together, which was a big challenge in the book.”
