Gabriel Byrne

'Make no mistake about it: this is a masterpiece . . . poetic, moving and very funny' -- Colum McCann, author of Let the Great World SpinWalking with Ghosts is a courageous examination of the painful and formative experiences of how Gabriel Byrne became who he is today. With poetic sensibility he recalls the people, landscapes and culture that have influenced his life and work. Defiantly original, this is both a candid exploration of the ambivalence of fame, and a lyrical often heartbreaking account of boyhood in an Ireland now largely disappeared.

Born to working-class parents and the eldest of six children, Gabriel Byrne harboured a childhood desire to become a priest. Four years later, Byrne had been expelled from an English seminary and he quickly returned to his native city. There he took odd jobs as a messenger boy and a factory labourer to get by. In his spare time he visited the cinema, where he could be alone and yet part of a crowd. It was here that he could begin to imagine a life beyond the grey world of '60s Ireland. It was a friend who suggested Byrne join an amateur drama group, a decision that would change his life forever and launch him on an extraordinary forty-year career in film and theatre. Moving between sensual recollection of childhood in a now almost vanished Ireland and reflections on stardom in Hollywood and on Broadway, often through the lens of addiction. Hilarious and heartbreaking Walking With Ghosts is a lyrical homage to the people and landscapes that ultimately shape our destinies.