Binding: Paperback
Date Published: 24 Oct 2025
Dust, Dirt & Politics’ is the title of the lively, anecdote-laden memoir of Kilnamona monumental sculptor Michael McTigue.
Michael’s work is to be seen all around us; think of the Michael Cusack statue at Cusack Park or the Muhammad Ali plaque at the Turnpike in Ennis, creations born first of all in the Kilnamona man’s head before being etched in stone for the viewing of thousands, over decades.
His creative talent is wonderful, and with a gregarious personality, he has a wealth of stories from his 72 years.
A dyed in the wool Fianna Fáiler from a line of dyed in the wool Fianna Fáilers, he remembers his mother’s tears on the day that De Valera died.
Tracing, in my own words, a lifetime journey that took me from Kilnamona to Lowell, Massachusetts, via graveyards not only in Clare, but to Charlie Haughey's final resting place in Sutton, Co. Dublin, then, further afield to the outskirts of Enniskillen, Co. Tyrone, and beyond to Nottinghamshire in the English Midlands. My wife, Shelia, gave me the self belief to take on the five ton limestone Michael Cusack statue, and I think she impressed Naoise Jordon that I was up for it, so I didn't give it a second thought when Paddy Purcell suggested we do a large sculpture for the new cemetery in Shannon.
Then there was the once in a lifetime occasion when Muhammad Ali unveiled a piece of my work. Interspersed with graveyard adventures are tales of internal Fianna Fail politics, meeting World Champion Steve Collins and Linda Martin at party functions, the many times I got myself in hot water over the Wolfe Tones, late nights in the Clare Celts, and the decades of doing master of ceremonies at the Kilnamona Hurling Club annual dinner.