ann_devine.jpg

Features

Introducing Ann Devine

Ann Devine, Ready for Her Close-Up

Meet Ann Devine: Irish mammy, reluctant local activist and unlikely heroine. The first in a hilarious new series of comic novels from the bestselling author of the Irish Mammies books.

Warm, charming and laugh-out-loud funny… Ann Devine, Ready For Her Close-Up is a little ray of sunshine, sure to delight

Warm-spirited, funny, dark when it needs to be, and – most importantly – underwritten by a scalpel-sharp ear for how Irish people really speak…O’Regan never gets it wrong

Ann Devine brings a smile to the face of rural Ireland…O’Regan satirises small-town Ireland with both affection and deadpan wit

Everybody knows an Ann Devine ... It's hard to write a book that's funny the whole way through, consistently funny with belly laughs ... but Colm has done that

O’Regan taps into the wild, weird and woolly

This book captures something warm and wholesome … it feels indulgent and reminds the reader of home. Prepare to laugh and grimace at the antics of the Irish Mammy

Colm O’Regan is a columnist, broadcaster, comedian and author. He has published four books of non-fiction – the three bestselling books of Irish Mammies and Bolloxology – and published his first novel, Ann Devine: Ready for Her Close-Up in 2019. Ann Devine: Handle with Care is his second novel. Originally from Cork, he now lives in Dublin with his wife Marie and daughters Ruby and Lily.

Warm, charming and laugh-out-loud funny… Ann Devine, Ready For Her Close-Up is a little ray of sunshine, sure to delight' Irish Independent 
 
 
Meet Ann Devine, a riddle, wrapped up in a fleece, inside a Skoda Octavia. 
 
Now that her youngest has flown the nest, Ann finds herself at a loose end. Until, that is, she is put forward for the Kilsudgeon Tidy Towns Committee. 
 
Yet all is not neat and tidy in Kilsudgeon. There are strange sightings of people who aren't local driving 4x4s with a yellow reg, a man bun requesting kefir in the restaurant and a quad bike at a funeral. 
 
What does this have to do with rumours of a brand new television series to rival Game of Thrones? And what will it all mean for Kilsudgeon's newly proposed town park? 
 
A lot, as it happens. 
 
As the town begins to fill up with the film crew, extras and a Hollywood star who is fond of the drink, everyone welcomes the chance to make a few bob and to finally get enough broadband to send an attachment. 
 
Or nearly everyone. Harmony is threatened when the newcomers seem to be doing more damage than good and the last straw is when Ann’s pride and joy - a floral arrangement in a boat - is trashed. She’s about to discover what it means to go viral…

It's Earlier 'Tis Getting: The Christmas Book of Irish Mammies

All you want to know about Christmas, from the unique perspective of the Irish Mammy.

Christmas – a time for peace, joy and Mammies. 
 
 While others are focusing on Santa/Santy, the school nativity play, the office party and its wild cousin the Twelve Pubs, panicked present shopping and the delicate diplomacy of in-law visiting, the Irish Mammy is mobilized in her war-room – ready for the campaign. Electric blankets have been set to maximum power; cards have been despatched; the turkey has been ordered; the decorations have been retrieved from the Place Where The Decorations Go and the fifth Big Shop (to get breadcrumbs) has been completed. 
 
 There are homecomings from near and far, new arrivals, drama, bustle, tears and laughter, and Mammy at the heart of it all, directing operations. 
 
 There’s bound to be something she’s forgotten – but luckily, just like a certain someone, she’s made a list.

Bolloxology

New humour book from the author of the bestselling Irish Mammies books, focusing on the jargon, pretentiousness and BS of modern life.

Let me ask you a question. 
Have you ever wondered why pretentiousness, jargon, bullshit and Having Notions Above Our Station are so rife in the world today? Well, there’s now a recognized science that studies all of these forms of self-delusion. Welcome to the world of Bolloxology. 
We might not know it, but the modern world has subjected all of us to some form of Bolloxology. It’s that moment when you’ve paid twenty euro for fish and chips just so it can be served on a piece of slate. It’s when you share yet another Inspirational Quote of the Day against your better judgement. It’s when you realize you haven’t understood a word That Politician has said to you on your doorstep, yet you feel strangely compelled to take a selfie with him. It’s about the passion, the ‘key learnings’, the artisan chutney, the instacelebs. It’s about the Pure Hames we’re making of things. 
In Bolloxology, Colm O’Regan, comedian and author of the bestselling Irish Mammies books, shows that our world is now less a planet and more a hot air balloon. Illustrated by the hilarious Twisted Doodles, Bolloxology is an indispensable guide to the deceptive cod-infested seas of twenty-first-century life.

The Second Book Of Irish Mammies

That's More Of It Now

The follow-up to the bestselling Irish humour book of 2012

Colm O’Regan’s massive bestseller Isn’t It Well For Ye? The Book of Irish Mammies brought the wonderful world of the Irish Mammy to homes across Ireland, where it took pride of place alongside the good scissors and the bit of string that might come in handy someday. And now, before you can say “Is it that time already?”, Irish Mammy is back with more words of wisdom. 
That’s More Of It Now: The Second Book of Irish Mammies takes us even deeper into this parallel universe, with advice on everything from how to tell Mammy she is about to become a Granny to how to discipline a child (aged 0–45), touching on Irish Mammies’ role in the worlds of sport, the workplace, technology, religion and culture. Enjoy popular fairy-tales retold with an Irish Mammy at the centre of them; marvel at exclusive, not-yet-released scenes from the epic Game of Scones; and find some essential apps for the Modern Mammy’s tablet. 
Probably the most important sequel since The Godfather Part II, or at least Fifty Shades Darker, That’s More Of It Now will find a place in everybody’s heart (and stocking). Just don’t leave it on a damp step.

Isn't It Well For Ye?: The Book of Irish Mammies

Everything you always wanted to know about the Irish Mammy . . . but were too timid to ask, weren't you pet?

A BOOK if you don’t mind! And him with a degree and a job and all. 
 
Everyone should have an Irish Mammy. She’s never short of advice, a kind word and a cup of tea (making sure to scald the teapot first, of course). 
 
Bring the coat anyway. If it’s too hot you can take it off. 
 
Comedian Colm O’Regan explores the phenomenon of the Irish Mammy and what she might say about everything from the ‘new mass’ to the cardinal sin of not owning a cough bottle and the importance of airing clothes properly. The global influence of the Irish Mammy, through history, science, politics and literature, is undeniable. Did you know, for instance, that Hamlet had an Irish Mammy? 
 
So if you’re an Irish Mammy, have one, know one or suspect you might be turning into one, this book will act as your guide. But be aware that though this book might think it knows it all, it doesn’t, only Mammy knows it all.

Colm O'Regan

A very funny second adventure ... [Ann is] a fully rounded and very sympathetic character, an intelligent woman with zero notions and a wry sense of humour

Ann Devine is one of our most endearing literary figures

Just as hilarious and heart-warming as his first

Provides a much need lift to the spirits ... Ann is an honest and endearing creation ... She embodies the spirit of uplift with a refreshing Irish pragmatism

Colm O'Regan's latest novel may be exactly what every Irish person looking for home comforts needs in their life during a pandemic ... he again proves himself one of the foremost chroniclers of rural Ireland

Every bit as charming and perceptive as its predecessor

Very funny indeed and actually very heartwarming ... A great read

A warm, funny and charming novel that transcends its locale

Up to her oxters in a clatter of domestic misadventures that would leave her urban literary parallel, Ross O'Carroll Kelly, in the ha'penny place

Just once, Ann Devine would like life to be straightforward. But there’s just too much drama knocking about for that to happen. 
 
Ann’s family is proving a handful at the moment. Her mother moves in after having a fall, her sister Ger is off ‘finding herself’ in India leaving Ann to look after her teenage, wide a-woke, niece Freya. Her daughter Jennifer is dealing with a love triangle that involves her mother-in-law-to-be. It’s all far from simple. 
 
Now Rory, her youngest, has set his sights on a future as a local TD and it’s all Ann can do not to box him up and post him off to the backend of wherever is furthest away from his local ‘mentor’, politician, and all-round chancer Patsy Duggan. Just to save him from himself. Of course, that’s not even an option because now the post office is closing down. The locals are up in arms, but what do the powers-that-be care about rural Ireland? Without really meaning to be, Ann finds herself in the thick of things – and things are getting dodgier by the minute. 
She only wanted to save the village, but sometimes even saviours need saving from themselves.

Colm O'Regan

Praise for Ann Devine: Handle With Care

Reliably hilarious and charming

A very funny second adventure ... [Ann is] a fully rounded and very sympathetic character, an intelligent woman with zero notions and a wry sense of humour

Ann Devine is one of our most endearing literary figures

Reliably hilarious and charming

A very funny second adventure ... [Ann is] a fully rounded and very sympathetic character, an intelligent woman with zero notions and a wry sense of humour

Ann Devine is one of our most endearing literary figures

Reliably hilarious and charming

A very funny second adventure ... [Ann is] a fully rounded and very sympathetic character, an intelligent woman with zero notions and a wry sense of humour

Ann Devine is one of our most endearing literary figures

Books by Colm O'Regan

Articles featuring Colm O'Regan

Introducing Ann Devine

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter