They document a time and place, yet they also have a timeless appeal in their portrayal of the people of the city whom Macken knew and loved so well. Full of insight and humour, they do not romanticise the past; rather they celebrate the qualities of ordinary people in their struggles with poverty, with political conservatism and with the sea, ever-present elements in the life of the city of the tribes.

Walter Macken has long been one of Ireland's most popular writers. A novelist who defined in fiction the world of the 'plain people' of the west of Ireland, he was a master of the short story. First published posthumously in 1997, these magnificent stories are now brought back to life in the Modern Irish Classics series.