What made you want to write about 16th century Ireland?
This was a fascinating time in the history of the west of Ireland as it was a time of transition – the ending of the old Gaelic, clan-based society and the beginning of the new, uneasy relationship with the feudal culture from England. Laws from then on would be dictated from London rather than based on a community-based consensus of what was right and just.
You’ve previously written children’s books – how different is it writing for adults?
While writing for adults I was able to take the story at a more leisurely pace – to make time for exploring depth of character, and also I was able to make the time to try to put into words the beauties of that landscape here, in what used to be the ancient kingdom of the Burren.
For botanists, as well as for geologists, the Burren is unique. Nowhere else do flowers from arctic and alpine regions grow side by side in the grykes, or cracks between limestone pavements.
Children, I know from experience, get easily bored and the story has to go at a cracking pace in order to keep their interest, so it is a nice change to write for adults.
What motivated you to write about the Brehon law, and how easy was it to research information about this subject?
I have always been interested in Brehon law. I think it is a wonderful system with its care for the individual (it was against the law not to give a meal to a hungry person and all insane people had to be cared for by the community) and its emphasis on family responsibilities.
The fact that there were no prisons under the Brehon system of laws shows how effective these community and family-based laws were. People conformed to the law because the respect of their family and their neighbours was important for them.
It was fairly difficult, at first, to research the laws, but once I found my initial sources these led to other books. I found the whole subject so fascinating that it became my bedtime reading!
Where did you get your inspiration for Mara?
I felt that many of the problems encountered by a Brehon, (investigating judge/magistrate) would be best handled by a woman, as qualities of tact and insight into human relationships would be very much needed when enforcing laws without the underlying threat of prison or capital punishment.
I read of a famous female Brehon, who was able to put male judges right, in many of the books on Brehon law, but I think my real inspiration for Mara came from standing outside the ruins of the sixteenth century law school at Cahermacnaghten and trying to imagine a woman in charge and how some of the modern problems of how to combine a personal life and a career might have arisen. There are the ruins of a house standing about a hundred yards away from the law school (part of the Cahermacnaghten property) and I imagined that was the Brehon’s residence. As I love plants, I visualized her as a gardener and so I opened My Lady Judge with a scene that sets her in the garden. Once she began to speak to her neighbour Diarmuid and solve his problem I found her character. I’m not someone who maps out a character beforehand. I usually start with dialogue and the character grows from there and this worked for me with Mara, Brehon of the Burren.
Is there a particular piece of Brehon law that you feel would benefit contemporary society?
I think it would be wonderful to be able to put the family and the neighbourhood back in central place as a means of enforcing good standards of behaviour among teenagers.
Brehon law stated that any crime committed by someone of less than nineteen years was the responsibility of their parents or foster-parents. This something that I think Tony Blair wanted to do.
What writer influenced you most?
I have been very influenced by Ellis Peters and her Brother Cadfael books. I love the way that she makes the past come alive. A few years ago I visited Shrewsbury and spent two happy days walking in the footsteps of Brother Cadfael around the remains of the abbey and up the steep hills of the ancient town.
Do you have a special place where you write?
I normally write in my spare bedroom where I have a nice view over the green hills that surround my home, but sometimes I take my laptop out onto the terrace in front of my cottage when the weather is fine. Generally, I am someone who writes easily and quickly and usually I don’t mind if someone talks to me while I am writing. The voices in my head are usually clearer than any other voice.
Did you have much difficulty in getting published?
I was lucky enough to have an agent, Peter Buckman of Ampersand Agency, who loved the book and I think that he conveyed his enthusiasm to publishers. The first one that he approached turned it down – with very high praise, so I wasn’t too disappointed – but I think that Pan Macmillan was the second or perhaps third publisher to read it. Anyway, I finished it in August and everything was signed and sealed by December.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to be a writer?
Before you start, have a story that you really want to tell, a story that will keep people interested. I think a lot of people get a good idea for a book, or a clever beginning, or a character they want to write about, but they don’t have a clear story and then they never finish the book.
What are your favourite and least favourite things about being a writer?
My favourite thing is being able to create my own world and live in it while I am writing. I always feel a bit depressed and empty when I finish a book. My least favourite thing, being a very impatient person, is waiting for that moment when the book finally appears in print.
Is there another Mara book and, if so, can you tell us a little bit about it?
I hope that there will be many more Mara books, but the next one is called Michaelmas Tribute and it begins a few months after the ending of My Lady Judge. It starts on September 29, the day of the Michaelmas fair with the people of the Burren clustered around the market stalls, busily buying, selling and bartering. But the mood turns ugly among the MacNamara clansmen as the steward, Ragnall, on the orders of the newly elected taoiseach, had demanded an excessive and unjust tribute. So when, on the following morning, the body of Ragnall was found murdered in the small churchyard beside the market square, several possibilities immediately rose to Mara's mind.
If you could write about another period of history, what would it be and why?
I have always been a great fan of the novels of Charles Dickens, but it was only when I read Peter Ackroyd’s biography of him that I realised what a very accurate picture of Victorian London books like Our Mutual Friend or Great Expectations do give. I would love to write a historical novel placed in Victorian London. I have, what I think is a great idea, for a mystery!
What was the last book you read?
I have just finished rereading Anne Chambers’ biography of Grace O’Malley – a book I read first about ten years ago. Grace was real-life character from the west of Ireland, born in the same year as Queen Elizabeth I. There were quite a few resemblances as Grace, like Elizabeth, was a strong, determined character who was her father’s heir. She became the chief of the clan and commander of her father’s fleet of ships. Like Walter Raleigh and Drake, she was not averse to piracy. In later life, she went to complain to Queen Elizabeth about the interference from the Queen’s Lord Lieutenant in Ireland. Grace sailed from the west of Ireland up the Thames to London, and had an audience with Elizabeth. She spoke no English and the Queen no Gaelic so they conversed in Latin. Queen Elizabeth was very impressed by Grace and ordered the Lord Lieutenant to give her a pension.
What’s your favourite place in the world?
I think it has to be Mullaghmore Mountain. It is always so peaceful, gleaming silver in the sunlight, moonlight, and on frosty days, and always deserted except during the month of May when people from all over the world come to see the carpets of sapphire-coloured gentians on the stone pavements at its base. It is an unbelievably beautiful place. I have tried to describe it in My Lady Judge but I’ve probably not done it justice. There are some lovely photographs on my website www.coraharrison.com
