Pitchcap and Pike

Colm Brennan was born in County Mayo, Ireland. He is a well-known sculptor in Dublin where he runs a bronze foundry This book, his first poetry collection, is a study in dramatic verse form of the events of the famous United Irishmen risings as they took place two-hundred years ago. These are often violent poems, dealing with war, fighting, and death. The central figures of the pitchcap, a tar hat placed upon a person and set afire, and the infamous pike, upon which many heads were impaled, set the book's tone. The poems are accompanied by a series of pen and ink drawings created especially by the author for the book, which provide a moving, yet somber portrait of this time in Irish history.