Elaine Feeney delivers a moving meditation on enforced female roles in Irish society past and present
On top of being a playwright and a Booker-longlisted novelist for 2024's beloved How to Build a Boat, Galwegian Elaine Feeney is also a well-respected poet and so is likely familiar with Philip Larkin's 1971 mini masterpiece This Be The Verse. Even those who are a stranger to his work have probably heard Larkin's assertion that your mum and dad mess you up, although the Bard of Hull used an expletive to better get his point across.
Don't blame your parents though, said Larkin, because they were 'messed' up by those who came before them. 'Man hands on misery to man' so get out while you can and don't look back. It's advice that Feeney's main character Claire O'Connor would have been wise to heed.
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Irish Independent
3 days ago
- Irish Independent
Hollywood horror specialist has eyes on Dublin as Irish developer Gambrinous readies new game based in infamous Hellfire Club
It's no use just having a smart design, you'd better also spin a compelling story around it or cook up an association with a celebrity – failing that, how about a deal with a major Hollywood production company? Dublin-based indie studio Gambrinous has by accident or design come up with a combination of all the above for its upcoming release, Eyes of Hellfire, out later this month on PC in Early Access. Despite two successful titles under its belt since Colm Larkin and his pal Fred Mangan set up Gambrinous in 2014, the studio struggled to get its next game off the ground. A couple of years working on one project came to naught before they hit on a devilishly clever concept with a haunting art style inspired by 19th-century painter Goya. With a back catalogue of lighthearted fare, Gambrinous turned to a darker idea dreamed up by art director Mangan and studio writer Len Cunningham, who are both huge fans of horror. Originally called just Hellfire Club – after the infamous Dublin Mountains hunting lodge overlooking the city – the game would be a new departure for the small team, which at that time in 2023 was just five people. 'Their pitch was exploring a supernatural space based on the actual old ruins just outside Dublin, where real life people come together and are dragged into something supernatural,' explains studio head Larkin during an interview alongside Mangan at the Irish Independent offices last week. 'Eyes of Hellfire is a co-op Gothic horror experience for you and your friends where not all is as it seems, especially your friendships. So what happens there is you're playing together, it's kind of like, Escape the Haunted House or an escape room. 'But we're causing a little friction between the players, so we seed each person with a curse, and that is kind of like a private agenda that you have to solve. You play a session together with, say, four or five people for a couple of hours. And in that time frame, you're really trying to do stuff together, but you privately are trying to sort of get away with something or solve something without people knowing.' If it sounds a little like breakout hit game Among Hit or TV's The Traitors, you're not wrong. But both those of can also trace at least some of their DNA to older social deduction card games such as Werewolf. Having worked up a prototype – Gambrinous used a mixture of old-school paper-based models and software versions in Tabletop Simulator – they began shopping the idea around to publishers. The results weren't exactly pretty. Larkin reckons they made more than 100 pitches and got rejection letters to most of them. But perhaps the longest shot eventually paid off handsomely. For 25 years, LA-based Blumhouse Productions has followed the Roger Corman blueprint of low-budget but creative horror flicks, including Five Nights at Freddy's and The Purge. But in 2023 they decided to get into games, albeit in a low-profile way. 'They'd gone out and said, we're Blumhouse Games and we're publishing horror games,' says Larkin. 'But they hadn't announced a single game. So they were scouting, signing games quietly and they weren't actually that easy to reach. In the end, I got through to them through a fairly senior connection I had made over the years in the industry. 'We'd already spent quite a few months trying to pitch many publishers on Eyes of Hellfire. And I think part of the problems we had with it was a bit too many elements to understand. It was like fusing tabletop or board games with horror, with live action, with suspicion-based co-op. Publishers want hits, but they're often a bit worried about novelty' Mangan jumps in to elaborate: 'The standard publisher might look and say we want a horror game rather than we want a slate of horror games. So the fact that it's a horror game with the board game stuff and the co-op stuff – I guess it's a riskier decision for them. Whereas Blumhouse, with horror as a genre locked in, they're looking for interesting things within that umbrella.' Larkin agrees that's the reason they went with Blumhouse in the end: 'It was straight up a good match where it was an ill-fit elsewhere. We always try and make games that are novel in some way, maybe sometimes too many ways. But we're always looking for something that we think there is a market for.' Sadly for Gambrinous, negotiating the publishing deal didn't involve flying out to LA and being wined and dined – the whole thing was handled remotely. The funding from Blumhouse secured in early 2024 was substantial – Larkin politely declines to put a figure on it – but it meant the studio could then knuckle down and put Eyes of Hellfire into full production by expanding the staffing to nine people. The set-up of the story is that the players arrive separately to the haunted lodge only to discover they are trapped and must work together to explore and escape. Players can roam freely around the rooms but there are elements of turn-based strategy to perform tasks governed by a stock of action points. As the team explored the framing of the narrative, they realised they'd need a character besides the players and the supernatural enemies to ratchet up the tension. Initially, the Host featured only in the introduction but then they cast a little-known actor named Liam Cunningham and the results were just too good to limit him to the start. Cunningham, as you might guess, is related to studio writer Len but is, of course better known as Davos Seaworth in Game of Thrones, among many other fine roles. Family connections aside, he's also a massive games fan and had previously contributed to Gambrinous's previous release, Cardpocalypse. The Host as voiced by Cunningham is a ghostly, enigmatic character whose motives are completely suspect. 'You're never fighting him,' says Larkin. 'He's never a villain. He's never an antagonist. He's always there messing with you. A presence is a really good way of thinking of him.' It's not just the full Irish voice cast that gives Eyes of Hellfire its flavour, Mangan's art and Gary Keane's subtle soundtrack contribute to the air of dread pervading the lodge. Mangan did a lot of research into Gothic romance stories of the 18th century: 'We pulled in a lot of Mary Shelley, Byron and Bram Stoker, who's a local boy. Even Oscar Wilde – there's a few kind of Dorian Gray moments in the game. 'With that in mind, we've looked at a similar period for the art style. So probably the biggest influence for me is Francisco Goya, the romance painter. He did it a series called The Black Paintings, where he was in the depth of illness at the time. It was particularly horrific stuff – very low light and with intense blacks. A classic horror thing. 'The story itself is based on five modern-day characters who are in some way linked to their descendants in the house itself. And they're suffering illness, and that's the basis of the curse that's kind of driven them to meet as strangers in the house, which lends itself quite nicely to the suspicion co-op. 'You don't really know each other. You've ended up in the house and they're dragged back then in the opening of the game to the period piece in the house.' Players won't have to wait much longer to get their hands on Eyes of Hellfire but Gambrinous has also chosen to launch into Early Access at a lower price rather than with a fully complete release. That enables the studio to continue to develop the game with player feedback – potentially for up to a year before the final polished product ships. Larkin says Early Access has become a common way for studios to get their games finished – it brings in money, lets fans contribute their ideas and builds a community of players who evangelise to others. 'It's become a player invitation to join in co-development of the game. So you say, yes, this is a fun experience, you can do all this. 'We're saying, come and join us now. You do buy the game, but you're buying into more development. You're going to get the full finished game for free, essentially, or with your purchase over time. 'That's what the early access idea is. It's been very successful for some games and for some communities that build up around a game early on. Because you can jump in on day one of an Early Access game, play an incomplete version of the game, but still good, like the bar is really high. It's still a very polished and playable experience.' The Early Access version goes live on Steam August 27 for €9 for a limited time. Cleverly, Gambrinous has ensured that every copy sold can host a game for up to four other players, who won't pay a cent – easing the process of persuading pals to give Eyes of Hellfire a go. 'I think that's going to really help us on launch where we have some champions who are really into it and they'll convince their friends and that big barrier is now gone,' says Larkin.
Extra.ie
31-07-2025
- Extra.ie
WATCH: 'It's all happening' at the Galway Races as designer shoes get caught in storm drain
RTÉ correspondent Teresa Mannion has summed up the week that is the Galway Races, as the racing festival reaches Ladies Day. The summer festival returned earlier this week, with the highlight of the week being Ladies Day — which will see horse racing and fashion as the two main items on the menu. And while racegoers will be dressed to the nines for the occasion, sometimes items go missing due to punters being *ahem* a bit uninhibited — with RTÉ's Teresa Mannion, who's a Galwegian, sharing a hilarious video of a high heel getting caught in a storm drain. Teresa gave an impromptu interview to the woman, who was trying to pull the heel out of the drain, with her tagging the designers Manolo Blahnik — whose heels fetch prices of around €600. 'A trapped designer heel, recycled hat, former Ladies Day winner turned judge,' Teresa wrote. 'It's all happening at the Galway Races. Winners to be announced later this afternoon.' Incredibly, this isn't the first time that such designer shoes were discarded in the streets of Galway, as back in 2023 Teresa spoke to security at the festival; who said that they found a pair of Manolo Blahnik stilettos in the bin. The Galway Races returned this week, with Ladies Day being a highlight of the festival. Pic: Seb Daly/Sportsfile 'Security staff at Ballybrit were bemused to find a pair of designer shoes worth 660 euros dumped in a bin!' Teresa tweeted. 'Even a pair of #ManoloBlahniks couldn't sustain a lady at the #GalwayRaces.' People were left in stitches at the dumping of the shoes — which, according to racecourse security, were left after a woman gave them to her partner, who then put them in the bin as she continued barefoot. 'The boom is back (for a select few only) hope the ladies kept them tbh [to be honest],' one person tweeted, while another joked 'Carrie Bradshaw would never' — a nod to the fact that a blue version of the suede stiletto were made famous by Sarah Jessica Parker's character in Sex and the City. The pumps are made by Spanish designer Manolo Blahnik, and were made famous by Ms Carrie Bradshaw — who made a throwback to her blue pumps in a teaser for And Just Like That. The Galway Races continue in Ballybrit.
The Journal
29-07-2025
- The Journal
'Relieved, elated – and maybe a bit proud': Roddy Doyle on chairing the Booker Prize panel
THE LONGLIST FOR this year's prestigious Man Booker Prize has been released – and chair of the five-person judging panel Roddy Doyle said he's 'loved every minute' of his experience. The Dublin author is the first winner of the prize to chair the panel. Doyle won the prize in 1993 for his novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, a novel about a ten-year-old boy living in north Dublin and the events that happen around his age group, school, and home. The 'Booker Dozen' of 13 books feature no Irish authors, but has British, American, Canadian-Ukrainian, Trinidadian, Indian, Hungarian-British, Malaysian, and Albanian-American authors listed. The longlist has been described as containing works that encapsulate 'a vast range of global experiences'. Among the authors on the longlist are one previous winner of the prize, a third-time longlisted author, two authors previously shortlisted, two debut novelists, the first novel from an opera librettist and the twelfth from a former professional basketball player, a book that first gained acclaim as a short story, and one that is the first in a proposed quartet. Doyle described the novels as 'alive with great characters and narrative surprises' which 'examine the past and poke at our shaky present'. Advertisement He is joined on the judging panel by Booker Prize-longlisted author Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀; actress, producer and publisher Sarah Jessica Parker; writer, broadcaster and literary critic Chris Power; and New York Times bestselling and Booker Prize-longlisted author Kiley Reid. Of Doyle's experience chairing the judging panel and narrowing down the submissions to the longlist, he wrote, 'it wasn't easy; at times, it was agony'. 'Seven months, 153 books – the five judges have met and decided on the 13 novels that make up the 2025 Booker longlist.' He said there were so many excellent books among the contenders that saying goodbye to some of them 'felt personal, almost cruel'. 'But I loved every minute of the experience, and being in the company of my fellow judges,' he said. 'There was a small, discreet UN peace-keeping force close at hand, but it wasn't needed. My four colleagues are a generous, funny group but what was clear from the outset was that these are people who love – actually, who need – great books.' He remarked on the list of locations featured amongst the novels. 'There are novels that experiment with form and others that do so less obviously… All, somehow, examine identity, individual or national, and all, I think, are gripping and excellent. 'As I write this, I have the 13 longlisted novels on my desk, in a pile. My phone tells me that one meaning of 'pile' is 'a heap of things'. It's a wonderful heap – I don't think I've seen a better one. At the end of our last, very long meeting, when we'd added the final book to the heap, we all felt relieved, elated – and maybe a bit proud.' The full longlist: Love Forms – Claire Adam The South – Tash Aw Universality – Natasha Brown One Boat – Jonathan Buckley Flashlight – Susan Choi The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny – Kiran Desai Audition – Katie Kitamura The Rest of Our Lives – Ben Markovits The Land in Winter – Andrew Miller Endling – Maria Reva Flesh – David Szalay Seascraper – Benjamin Wood Misinterpretation – Ledia Xhoga Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
