‘Don’t forget Victor Lennon,’ Turlough Moriarty said.
‘Victor Lennon? I thought you were, let me see …’ The photographer began going through the list: ‘… Turlough?’
‘No, I mean Victor Lennon isn’t here. He’s part of the team too. Don’t forget to write down: Missing from the picture – Victor Lennon.’
‘V-I-C-T-O-R-L-E-N …’ the photographer began.
‘There’s no such person, not on this team,’ Aidan Cavanagh shouted furiously,
‘He’s right. Score that name out. That fellow had nothing to do with it,’ said Charlie Quinn.
‘What are youse boys talking about? Victor damn near won us the final on his own,’ Turlough said, but the rest of them shouted him down. His brother Sean put a hand on his knee as if to quieten him. The photographer turned to Stanislaus with bemusement. Stanislaus shrugged.
‘All right then,’ he said. ‘Now, the rest of you men: this camera is a lot better than the old-fashioned ones but please avoid moving if you can. Remember, this is for posterity, so straighten those ties and give me a big smile.’ He disappeared under the cloak, and Stanislaus stood beside him while he did whatever he did under there.
‘There was a young man in this parish called Victor Lennon, but he’s gone now.’
‘Are you getting into the photo, Father?’ said the voice from beneath the cloak.
‘Come on, Father, stand in here. We have to have the new club chairman in the picture,’ said Charlie, and, without hesitation, Stanislaus sat in beside Sean Moriarty in the midst of the men of Madden.
‘All right, you men, and you too, Father,’ the photographer shouted. ‘This is history now, so watch the birdie and say a big hello to your great-grandchildren.’
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank:
Pat and Seamus McCann: my parents and best friends, quite simply for everything.
Jacqueline Nora McCann, née Fleming, my partner in life, for so often carrying me.
Glenn Patterson, a wonderful writer; a great and humane mentor.
Giles Foden, a friend to a young writer who needed one.
I would also like to thank: Emily Berry, Fran Brearton, Ciaran Carson, Gearoid Cassidy, Tom Clarke, Emily DeDakis, Jennifer Hewson, Chris McCann, Jacqueline McCann, James McCann, Mark Richards, Ian Sansom, Peter Straus and John Thompson.
About the Author
DARRAN MCCANN was born in Co. Armagh in 1979. He graduated from Trinity College Dublin and Dublin City University before becoming a journalist with Belfast’s Irish News. He went on to write, teach and study at Queen’s University Belfast. His play, Confession, was produced at the Brian Friel Theatre in Belfast in 2008. He lives in Ireland with his family.
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Copyright
First published in Great Britain in 2012 by
Fourth Estate
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
77–85 Fulham Palace Road
London W6 8JB
www.4thestate.co.uk
AFTER THE LOCKOUT. Copyright © Darran McCann 2012. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
The right of Darran McCann to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
The lines from ‘Epic’ by Patrick Kavanagh are reprinted from Collected Poems, edited by Antoinette Quinn (Allen Lane, 2004), by kind permission of the Trustees of the Estate of the late Katherine B. Kavanagh, through the Jonathan Williams Literary Agency.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-0-00-742947-9
EPub Edition © SEPTEMBER 2011 ISBN: 978-0-00-742948-6
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