'Lest I Forget'
Eamonn Orpen launches his book

On Saturday last, there was a huge turn out at Cametringane Hotel for the launch of Eamon Orpen's Book 'Lest I Forget'.  Fr. Sean O'Shea, who was PP in Bere Island for some 16 years did the honour for Author Eamon Orpen.  Following his introduction, Eamon spoke that the book was born out of love for his children and his grand-children, who encouraged him to write down the stories he lovingly told them over the years, of his childhood in Bere Island. 

Following the launch, Eamon signed copies for the people who wished them personalised (especially for Christmas).  The books are available locally in SuperValu and Spar.  To our readers abroad, please contact Eamon's daughter Geraldine at nosmo@eircom.net who will help you obtain a copy.

The following is an excerpt for the book-review done by the 'Munster' newspaper, following the launch in Waterford, home to Eamon and his wife Rita:

"The last decade has seen an enormous development in the popularity of the memoir as a form of literary expression.  Alice Taylor's At School through the Fields and Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes were deserved best sellers and here in Waterford, books like Eddie Wymberry's Well Well and the late Scan Dunne's In My Father's House (recently broadcast on WLRfm) are testimony to the new found popularity of the medium.  The latest - and most welcome - addition to the canon is Lest I Forget, a memoir of childhood on Bere Island on Bere Island in West Cork, penned by an adopted son of Waterford, Eamon Orpen.

Eamon Orpen was born on Bere Island in 1929 and this enchanting memoir is an account of his life on the Island until he emigrated to Britain, at the age of eighteen in 1947.  Eamon settled in Wales, where he married and raised a family, working as a carpenter in the building industry.  In the late sixties, Eamon returned to Ireland with his wife and family to take up employment in Waterford as a Supervisor with the Apprenticeship Board, which subsequently became ANCO and later FAS. 

On his retirement, some years ago, Eamon, determined to keep his mind active, decided to commit to paper - his memories of life on the Island in the Ghirties and Forties.  With the help and support of his family, he converted a room in the family home at Hillside Grove into a study and set out on the arduous journey which led him to the publication of the book this week in his adopted city.

In his foreword, the playwright, Jim Nolan, stated that Eamon Orpen's objective was to share the love of his enchanted Isle with his children.  "If this was all his work achieved" writes Nolan, "it would be much but I believe he has done a great deal more.  Lest I Forget is a priceless record, not just for Eamon's family, but for all who care about the social history of our country".

Nolan goes on to say that whilst the book is a wonderful celebration of life on Bere Island, "it is also, sadly, a reminder of how much we have lost.  Eamon's stories describe a community, which espite enduring material hardship on a scale we now find barely possible to imagine, understood intuitively the things that should really matter in our lives.  Reading them, many of us will be greatly envious of a time and place where people who appeared to have so little, were so richly endowed with a wisdom and courage and sense of community which is in short supply in our contemporary and apparantly sophisticated society".

Amongst the large crowd present to celebrate the launch, were Eamon's many froemds amd fpr,er work colleagues as well as his wife Rita, children Geralding, Michael, EAmon, Christopher and David along with their extended families."

These are some pictures taken on Saturday last at the Launch in Cametringane Hotel.  Click on image to view larger photo and use the back arrow on your browser to return to this page.

Eamon with his wife Rita, Daughter, Sons, Daughter-in-law and Grandson.	Eamon with the extended Orpen Family	Eamon with his brothers Gerard, Joe and Michael	Some of the captive audience while Eamon recited from his book	Eamon with his daughter Geraldine during the signing of his books