Donal Hickey, who works as a Kerry-based journalist with the Examiner, was reared in Gneeveguilla, in the heart of Sliabh Luachra.

He is the author of the bestselling political biography The Mighty Healy-Rae (1997). A founder member of the local history society, Cumann Luachra (1981), since its inception he has been editor of the societys popular journal.

He has written extensively about his native place for more than a quarter of a century.