Pá draig O'Gorman divides his time between his home in Clonakilty, County Cork and Vienna, Austria. He was born in Blackrock, Cork; His family moved to Mallow shortly after. Leaving Westland Row CBS, he joined The Spiritans in 1964, spending 4 years in seminary until it became clear celibacy would get in the way of a full life. Graduating from University College Dublin, he, like many of his generation, left Ireland in 1970. In 1973, he gave up his job with Esso Petroleum, London, because he felt squeezed into shape by corporate culture and joined the hippie trail to Asia, travelling extensively for one year and living in community in Delhi for a further year. He has spent his life in development. Establishing in 1991, a 'not for profit' community cooperative, Cartref Ni Ltd (means "our Home" in Welsh) in North Wales, to provide support to disabled people to live in their own home with the right support. It celebrated its silver jubilee in 2016. Subsequently, he spent 20 years in international development, mostly in Asia but also the Caribbean and Eastern Europe working with local non governmental organisations supporting street-based drug users. This was a rich experience which meant that he became comfortable cross-culturally on the streets of many countries in the world. The first novel 'The Drowning of Innocence is a product of extensive research, in clouding an online course with Trinity College, Dublin and one year full-time on the road with his wife Denise in their VWT3 campervan. The main inspiration for the story is to communicate to his grandson, Ezra (who, at the grand old age of two, became a naturalised Irish citizen), what being Irish means putting him in touch with his heritage. Pá draig's second novel 'Small Birds Fly Free', telling the story of five people who survive the Irish Famine, An Gorta Mó r, migrate to America and embroiled in the American Civil War. The story deals with imperialism, refugee status, the American caste system underpinning the civil war conflict and racism. It has been published on December 15th 2024. He is a member of the Vienna Storytelling Collective which meets monthly at Cafe Korb, Vienna and Spoken Word, deBarras, Clonakilty, County Cork, Ireland. You can view his short stories on his website
