Broken Pyjamas

by Paul Gallagher, Conor McSwiney (Illustrator)

Broken Pyjamas or children of conflict, is in this instance, our children of the Northern Ireland Troubles. There has been a lot written on the Troubles and indeed other conflicts, but Broken Pyjamas attempts to bring some laughter to the underlying tragedy of the conflict. The core themes are the resilience of children, and the fact that despite the Troubles, people generally and children in particular, maintained a great sense of humour. There was always the "Craic" (that's what "Fun" is called) to be had even in troubled times. The collective "yarns" are not, nor are intended to be an historical or political document as such, while the contents are firmly based on actual events. The stories are not entirely fiction or non- fiction. They are non-fiction, or true, in that they are about real things, people, events, and places. In all, the little chapters are anecdotal being short narrations of interesting, amusing but sometimes poignant biographical incidents. The illustrations provide the reader with a continuous depiction of a small boy in pyjamas looking onto the various scenes and suggest that the book is perhaps in fact, recollections written by children for adults. Author

124 pages, Paperback

First published December 3, 2012