Donncha O’Callaghan celebrates the release of his new children’s book in Limerick bookshops.
To celebrate the release of his brand-new children’s book, ‘Disaster Dad: Animal Antics’, ex-Munster rugby player Donncha O’Callaghan visited local Limerick bookshops across the weekend to sign stock and meet the fans of his hilarious series.
Released on September 24, the third instalment of the ‘Disaster Dad’ series tells yet another absurd tale of O’Callaghan’s parenting adventures.
The rugby legend popped up in various Limerick bookshops, including O’Mahony’s and Eason’s Crescent Shopping Centre. O’Callaghan has hosted numerous signing events and pop-ups during his time as a children’s author, as he strongly believes in the importance of connection found within local bookshops.
“Everyone is always looking towards convenience, but it’s mad, when you go into your local bookshop and have a conversation with somebody, and get a recommendation from somebody else and then there’s fellow like-minded people into the same things as you, it’s really great to see.”
O’Callaghan describes the novel as yet another of his “ridiculous silly stories,” with a large part of his enjoyment coming from seeing “kids reading them, thinking they’re so ridiculous that they could never happen, though you’re thinking ‘that actually did happen to me’.”
Though packed to the brim with jokes and illustrations, ‘Disaster Dad’ makes sure to “have a laugh at a little bit of vulnerability”, with Donncha stressing the importance of laughing at mistakes.
“Sometimes we’re all so worried about getting it wrong. We all want our moms and dads to be Teflon and never get it wrong, but sometimes they make mistakes too and I think that’s what the book does.”
Since retiring from professional rugby in 2018, O’Callaghan has undertaken a variety of new professional experiences, from coaching on Ireland’s Fittest Family, presenting on the RTÉ 2fm Breakfast Show, and now finding success as a beloved children’s author.
Before his endeavour into the world of children’s literature, O’Callaghan wrote a sports autobiography, ‘Joking Apart’, published in 2011, with the ‘Disaster Dad’ series initially planned to be another autobiography.
‘Disaster Dad: Animal Antics’ is available to purchase in bookshops across Limerick now.