On the Town: Poets, writers, family and friends gathered to salute Rosita Boland, of this newspaper, on the publication of her fourth book, A Secret Map of Ireland.
"She's the mistress of quirk - eclectic and eccentric. That's Rosita Boland. She's her own woman," said Niall MacMonagle, an English teacher at Wesley College and editor of poetry anthologies such as Lifelines and The Open Door Book of Poetry.
"I love the idea of turning Ireland into a treasure island. Rosita is a kind of literary metal detector, even a gold detector," said Boland's fellow poet, Dennis O'Driscoll.
"I'm looking forward to using it as a guide. I know I'll get the most bizarre introduction to Ireland by following Rosita's alternative road map for the eccentrically minded," said Selina Guinness, a lecturer in Irish literature at Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology.
Architect Bernard Gilna, who has "travelled the length and breadth of Ireland for the Guide Dogs of Ireland", hopes that A Secret Map of Ireland will "inspire us to deviate from our route next year".
In A Secret Map, "you will discover facts you never knew", said Caroline Walsh, literary editor of The Irish Times, launching the book. She went on to cite some of the facts: there are 200 million eels in Lough Neagh; the Prince of Montenegro is buried in Limerick; and Tayto crisps are one of the most widely requested items from emigrants abroad.
Also at the event in Eason Hanna's bookshop in Dublin were Boland's parents, Joseph and Catherine Boland; her brothers, Arthur and David; and her sister, Cáitríona Corcoran.
Poet Richard Murphy, on a visit from his home in South Africa, was there too, as were Breakfast in Babylon author Emer Martin; Elayne Devlin, of Plan, the Third World development agency; and some of Boland's neighbours from Harold's Cross Cottages, including Nicholas Manning, Joseph Woods, director of Poetry Ireland, and his wife, Sarah, and artist Madeleine Moore.
A Secret Map of Ireland, by Rosita Boland, is published by New Island.