Gobnait Éilís Ó Tuathail

In the Works

Spirit of the Ossuary (coming in 2026)

Spirit of the Ossuary is a prequel to The Crypt Artist by Deborah O'Toole.

Malachy O'Leary (pronounced Mal-ah-key oh-leery) was a minor 20th-century poet. His three published collections include "Verses from Dubh Linn," "Limericks on the Lam" and "Poems from Blackpool," most of which but not all were off-the-cuff poems with occasional sad prose thrown into the mix.

Malachy Michaleen O'Leary (March 10, 1888-July 14, 1954) was born in Dublin, Ireland, the youngest of five sons. His parents were Patrick O'Leary, a bricklayer, and Mary Donovan O'Leary. After one year at Trinity College in Dublin, where he studied literature, Malachy migrated to the United States, settling in New York City.

After the relative success of his three published works, O'Leary faded into obscurity. Once in awhile he would do poetry readings at various pubs and bookstores in SoHo, but for the most part remained reclusive. He never married. His closest companion for many years was a stray cat named Hissy, who he rescued as a kitten from the streets of SoHo.

O'Leary was known as an eccentric character in the SoHo area. One oft-repeated story of his antics included riding a bicycle down Broome Street with his cat Hissy sitting in a basket on the handlebars, where he greeted everyone that passed by with "Very well, thank you" even when they were not addressing him. He allegedly also made a habit of having conversations with lampposts on the same street, usually after a night of heavy drinking.

O'Leary died in 1954 at the age of sixty-six. He was buried at the Marble Cemetery on Second Street in New York City, but continued to haunt the Ramsey Building in SoHo, New York with his tetchy cat, Hissy.

Spirit of the Ossuary has a tentative release date of 2026.