Achoimre
The Gallant John-Joe is the soliloquy of a Cavan widower grappling with physical and mental infirmity. What keeps him on his feet is his capacity to tell stories, to make a story of anything that moves, using language as a crutch, ointment, talisman, intoxicant. In his stories he introduces us to the characters in his life: Bossman, his well-to-do patronising friend, The Hitmatist; The Chinee; John-Joe O'Reilly, captain of the conquering Cavan team of the late 1940's, and Jacinta, his teenage daughter.