We Lived In The Sky tells story of boys growing up in flats

‘We Lived in the Sky’ is the latest book by Finglas writer George Fitzgerald, originally from Ballyfermot, which tells the story of a group of boys growing up in newly built flats in Ballymun, writes Ryan Butler. 

In this coming-of-age story, we follow the lives of the young Fitzgerald family: their parents, George and Maria, and their children, twins George and Joseph, and baby brother Pat.

The book opens with the twin boys sitting on the floor on the 10th floor in their flat in Ballymun in the late 1960s.

The ‘Ballymun Flats’ included seven tower buildings, 36 blocks overall, comprising fifteen-story, eight-story, and 10 four-story blocks, which were constructed quickly in the 1960s.

The complex was constructed in a Corbusian design known as “towers in the park,” which was common in American and European cities.

The entry floor and a plant room on the roofs of the 15-story buildings made up the total number of stories instead, and the tower blocks were named after the signatories to the Proclamation of the Irish Republic.

In chapter four, Fitzgerald dedicates the chapter to his childhood visit to his grandparents on Lally Road, Ballyfermot.

Fitzgerald (59) is no stranger to notoriety, as he is the author of the ‘Ashley Brown’ book series.

He is also an artist and the founding member of the hit 90s band The D11 Runners, who, among other places, played in The Square in 1992.

Among the members were twin brother Joseph, the singer; young brother Pat; and George’s wife, Sandra, a sax player.

What inspired the book was the ability to “tell the story of a Dublin no longer here,” according to George, as he was an eyewitness to what it was like to live in now iconic buildings in Dublin’s history.

The book was originally published under the title ‘Somebody Up There Likes Me Too’, back in 2005.

He has written a lot since then, and he “came back to it,” added more stories, and divided it into four books.

Future publications include ‘My name is George; Don’t call me Twinny,’ and ‘The D11 Runner Story.’

He previously published a book called ‘Frankie’s Little Miss Madder’, the third book in the ‘Ashley Brown’ series after ‘The Secret Life of Ashley Brown’ and ‘The Promise Maker.’

These novels tell the story of Frankie, born in New York in 1930, who comes to Dublin as a child in 1935 and grows up in the tenement world.

George would like to thank his wife, Sandra, for her help with the book, as she proofreads everything.

He published the follow-up book ‘From Up in the Sky to Down on the Ground’ as an audiobook and Amazon ebook last week.

Along with a George-directed documentary of the same name, ‘We Lived in the Sky’ is available on YouTube as an audiobook.