The late Padraic O'Farrell was one of Ireland's most prolific popular authors. Born in County Kildare in 1932, he went on to become a senior army officer based in Mullingar. He was the author of forty books, including a number on Irish proverbs and sayings: Gems of Irish Wisdom, Irish Rogues, Rascals and Scoundrels and How the Irish Speak English. Other books are The Burning of Brinsley MacNamara, The Blacksmith of Ballinalee, Who's Who in the Irish War of Independence and Civil War 1916-23, and a Michael Collins novel, Rebel Heart. He also scripted two historical plays and a musical based on the Great War and wrote features and theatre reviews for various publications, among them The Irish Times and Theatre Ireland.