NORTH PORT — Irish author and singer Cahal Dunne — along with a huge book sale, food trucks and more — drew a large crowd to the Shannon Staub Public Library in North Port on Friday.
The Friends of the Shannon Staub Library hosted its annual fundraiser to raise money to support library programs.
Last year the fundraiser was canceled due to COVID-19.
Dunne is most famous for representing Ireland in the 1979 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “Happy Man.” He recently published a new book titled “Athenry: An Odyssey of Sacrifice, Survival and Love,” a story that puts a human face on the Irish Famine of 1845.
“I wrote this book during the COVID-19 lockdown,” Dunne said. “It’s based on the song ‘Fields of Athenry’ which is an Irish folk ballad. It has basically become our second national anthem and it’s really touched the soul of the Irish.”
The book is set during the Great Famine of the 1840s. The main character steals food for his starving family and is sentenced permanently to Australia as punishment, leaving his wife and child on their own.
Dunne researched the book for about three years.
“Between 1788 and 1886, approximately 164,000 convicted people — 80% men and 20% women — were transported to the Penal Colonies in Australia from England and Ireland,” Dunne said. “Fewer than 5% of them made it home.”
Dunne said his wife, Kathleen, helped edit the book and their son, Sean, did the cover art.
He also thanked Judy Savela, organizer of the event, for her help.
“Judy polished it up beautifully,” Dunne said.
After speaking about his book, he sang “Fields of Athenry” for the crowd.
“Cahal has done performances for us since 2019 — he is so incredibly talented,” Savela said. “He is beloved by the library staff.”
Dunne said he received a call from a movie producer a few months ago about his book.
“He didn’t think it would be successful as a movie, but he did say it could work well as a Netflix mini series.”
Friends of the Shannon Staub volunteers had five rooms set up at the library where shoppers could fill a bag full of books, magazines, CDs and DVDs, for $5.
A friendly dinosaur greets Hunter Premuto, 1, and his mom, Jessica. To the right are 10-month-old Ryan and his mom, Timea Brown.
There were games and activities for children outside on the lawn in front of Suncoast Technical College, which shares space with The Shannon Staub Library.
“I asked the library staff if they could arrange something for the kids,” Savela said. “The youth librarian dressed up as a dinosaur and there were some games for parents who brought their little ones to the event.”
The Jersey Shore Crab Company, Baylor’s Southern Soul barbecue, Case de Uraguay and Sunny Days Ice Cream were onsite from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. for those who wanted to enjoy lunch or have a sweet treat.
Veronica Carbonel, of Casa de Uraguay Baked Goods, was selling sweet treats at the event.
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