From Head to Tale

Pat McLoughlin was born in Newport, Co. Tipperary but now lives in Newcastle West, Co. limerick. From Head to Tale is his second collection of short stories. His first collection, To Weave with Words, was published in June 2018 and sold out within weeks. After numerous requests from readers, he decided to publish a second print, which moved off the shelves in similar fashion. He’s had stories published in two anthologies – River People and The Limerick Almanac 2017. One of his stories, The Barrington Disconnect, was broadcast on RTE’s Sunday Miscellany. He has attended creative writing courses at U.L. and at the Limerick Writer’s Centre and is a member of the Desmond Scribblers Writing Group in Newcastle West. The proceeds from his first collection were donated to The Friends of St. Ita’s Hospital in Newcastle West, and the proceeds from this collection will also go to the hospital. He is married to Eleanor, has two children and two grandchildren.

These are stories from a familiar world, peopled with characters that we feel we know or recognise. Pat has given them life on the page, with an unerring ear for dialogue that fairly clips along, and a sharp eye for human frailty and human resilience. Above all, there is warmth and understanding at the heart of these stories as well as humour.
Norma Prendiville,Limerick Leader Newspaper

As I read through this eclectic collection of short stories, I was reminded of Nelson Mandela’s assertion that he was an ordinary person who became a leader in extraordinary times. Pat’s stories invariably start with the ordinary, but the reader is skillfully and subtly led into the extraordinary and is held in suspense right to the final lines. This is the true measure of the gifted story-teller and Pat is very much at home in this literary pantheon.
Dr. Paddy Fullam