Rory & Ita

"Rory & Ita", Roddy Doyle's first non-fiction book, tells - largely in their own words - the story of his parents' lives.

They remember every detail of their Dublin childhoods - the people, the politics, idyllic times in the Wexford countryside for Ita, Rory's apprenticeship as a printer.

By the time they out down a deposit of two hundred pounds for a house in Kilbarrack, Rory was working as a compositor at the Irish Independent.

By the time the first of their four children was born, he'd become a teacher at the School of Printing in Dublin.

Kilbarrack began to change, and Ireland too. Through their eyes, we see the intensely Catholic society of their youth being transformed into the vibrant, modern Ireland of today.