Several hundred invited guests set off for the Aran Islands on board the 'Galway Bay' ferry for the launch of 'Learaí an Cheoil', a book of short stories for children.
What followed must surely rate as the most unusual book launch of the year. Six copies of ‘Learaí an Cheoil’, wrapped in waterproof packing were quite literally launched into the middle of Galway Bay. Author Máirtín Davy hopes they will be found washed ashore somewhere in the Connemara Gaeltacht. His sponsors CIE and the Bank of Ireland are offering a special prize to the finder.
From Inis Mór the largest of the three Aran Islands, the party went by motor boat to Inis Méain, where the more orthodox launch was performed by the Minister for the Gaeltacht Máire Geoghegan-Quinn. Here, Máirtín Davy read from ‘Learaí an Cheoil’ to an audience of spellbound children.
The book of short stories is the second work by Máirtín Davy and it has received great critical acclaim.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 27 August 1980. The reporter is Jim Fahy.
