The Fall of the Fitzmaurices was published on 30th October last. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, there was no possibility of a book launch, book shops were either closed entirely or dependant on click and collect. Not good omens for sales. The good news is that it was sold out by the end of November and a re-print ordered. Ten days after the re-print was delivered all bookshops were closed entirely and will be so until mid-March at least. But the next bit of good news is that as the result of reviews and comments (below) and the possibility of buying online at MyKerryAncestors.com or O’Mahonys Bookshop sales have been well up.
‘I’m only 40 pages in and there’s already been two scandalous affairs, a lurid court case, outrageous extravagance and an alleged fake marriage. I hope Kay Caball has done a good deal for the TV rights’. Katie Hannon, RTE, Twitter 9.2.21
‘ … this Wednesday, I set aside proper reading time to relish something non-Covid: Clodagh Finn’s delicious examination in this page of the scandalous life of the last Earl of Kerry. Historian Kay Caball’s new book presents a picture of luxury, decadence, gossip, sex, money – and grinding poverty on the part of the peasants in Lixnaw who got to pay for Fitzmaurice’s shockingly pleasurable life’. Terry Prone 9.2.21
‘The Fascinating Kerry aristocrats who deserve a series on Netflix. Fact, they say, is infinitely more enthralling than fiction and here is proof of it in the story of the last Earl of Kerry who, from 1789, continued to entertain at his opulent town-house on the Champs Elysées in Paris, oblivious to the revolution that was gathering pace all around him’. Clodagh Finn, Irish Examiner 3.2.21
Well done … it’s a brilliant book … it’s set for Netflix, amazing story … you definitely want to pick up a copy of this book’. Gerry O’Sullivan, Radio Kerry 4.2.2021 Podcast: http://bit.ly/3jE7NSK
The Kerryman Newspaper 28 Oct 2020
‘Power, Money, Sex and Fame – Kerry’s Pre-Eminent Norman Aristocrats lef Downton Abbey in the shade, as an epic new account of their rarefied world, by Kay Caball reveals. Published by the North Kerry Literary Trust, it comes boasting a foreword by the latest of the line, the 9th Marquess of Lansdowne, Charlie Lansdowne’. Dónal Nolan, The Kerryman 28.10.2020
‘Kay sheds light on Kerry’s Royal Family’. A new book by Listowel native Kay Caball sheds light on the fortunes and demise of the Fitzmaurices, Lords of and Lixnaw who were one of the most powerful families in the county up to the late 18th century’. Tom Dillon, Kerry’s Eye, 5.11.2020
‘North Kerry Literary Trust launches epic new history of the Earls of Kerry’. The Kerryman newspaper 4.11.20.
The Fall of the Fitzmaurices, tells the story of the demise of the Fitzmaurice family, who had been powerful Lords of Kerry, since the year 1235. By 1818, after over five hundred years as Kerry’s premier family, through a combination of extravagance, irresponsibility, and feckless living, their titles and estates were no more. A potent story of power, wealth, land, money, and sex among the Irish aristocracy in the 18th century. Order here.
Kay, Congratulations on its success and sales! It was a book on my ‘to buy’ list since the webinar, now ticked. Looking forward to reading it. I need something cheerful after the depravity and whiskey-sodden violence of faction fighting in Sean Moraghan’s ‘Days of the Blackthorn’.
Kind regards
Bob F.
Can the book be purchased in the States, Thanks
Yes Carol, there is no problem shipping to the United States. A large number of orders have already been dispatched since November (2020). Kay
Bob, good to hear from you again. I think you will definitely enjoy Fizmaurice – you will be knowledgeable on the background! In the post to you in the morning. Let me me what you think when you get to finish it