The Lamp and the Lullaby: A Memoir

Ireland’s longest-surviving recipient of a heart transplant, Bill Long has been, at various times: in the British Navy, a journalist, a cyclist, a public relations officer, a ‘serious’ writer, a broadcaster and documentary-maker. He has made over 200 contributions to RTÉ’s Sunday Miscellany programme.

The Lamp and the Lullaby is Bill Long’s memoir of growing up in County Waterford during the 1930s and 1940s. Unlike many recent memoirs gracing bookshelves, Bill Long’s story is refreshingly positive, as he shares his memories of a happy childhood. The lamp and the lullaby of the title refer to the light and the sound made by Hook Head and Mine Head lighthouses as he went to sleep at night. ‘From my country cradle, lighthouse beam and boom were my lamp and my lullaby.’