Run with the Hare, Hunt with the Hound is published by the Cennan imprint of Cynren Books – an award-winning traditional publisher of history, memoir, and biography based in Philadelphia (https://www.cynren.com/catalog/runwiththehare). An immersive, sensory voyage into twelfth century Ireland, the book is historical fiction on the ‘literary’ side of that genre’s broad spectrum.
In my day job, I work as an archaeologist directing large excavations, mainly in Dublin, though I’ve worked in Britain, France and Australia also. While it is not always as exciting and glamorous as people might imagine, it is always a privilege to be tasked with unearthing and curating the past and the stories of the people who dwell there.
The novel arises from an unexpected meeting with one such person – Hugh de Lacy, almost 20 years ago in a library on a backstreet in Toulouse. For my part, I was researching the medieval fortifications of that city during the crusade against the Cathars, while he was leading a charge against the walls! My research into how he ended up in the pages of a medieval Occitan poem, his exile from Ireland and his years as a crusader lord unearthed a story I’ve been writing about ever since. Having published on these fascinating events in academic books, journals and conferences (most recently in Ireland and the Crusades published in October 2022 by Four Courts Press), I was drawn to explore the possibility of telling the story in a different, more compelling way – giving rise to Run with the Hare….
From a young age, I have always written and read fiction and have the obligatory unpublished/unpublishable novel in the drawer from my early twenties to prove it. For over fifteen years I’ve been writing short-form fiction set in contemporary settings, much of which has been published (Howl, Irish Times, RTE Radio 1) or shortlisted for awards (Bridport, Over the Edge, Bristol, Pushcart). So much to say that I am passionate about telling stories – a craft I developed further over a few years working as a tour guide around Ireland.
As I began writing the novel, I laid out the backstory of the de Lacy family in Ireland and was drawn further back than I intended. The turbulent events surrounding the invasion of Ireland by waves of barons from across the Irish Sea took centre stage and the story as it emerged is set in Hugh’s world as it would have been in his infancy, becoming, I suppose, a kind of ‘origin story’.
As I experimented with perspective, I rejected a narrative voice from within the ranks of the aristocracy given the inevitable self-important, classist and chauvinist nature of that worldview. To help contextualise the seismic events of the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland from a different vantage, I started to look at things through the eyes of the lower classes. Though based in as much fact as I could marshal, the bias of the historical record meant that these people had to be invented to some extent. I did not envy treading the worn ground of the downtrodden Gael and in the end, I was drawn to the story of the thousands of English men and women captured by the Irish and carried off from the western shores of Britain as slaves – at times with the connivance of their lords or parents. The character of the protagonist, Alberic, emerged from the background noise, followed by Ness. She too is fictional but represents the women beyond number who had to chart their way in a world where—contrary to more romantic views of female agency in Gaelic Ireland—they had no legal standing beyond that conferred upon them by their relationships with men (whether spouse, parent or lord).
A significant turning point for the writing of the novel came in 2018 when I won a Words Ireland mentorship bursary and was paired with the poet and novelist David Butler. Not only is David a true artisan when it comes to the understanding of narrative technique and story structure, but he has an impressive knowledge of and interest in the medieval period. The pressure of finishing sections of the book to have ready for submission to David gave me the final push I needed to complete the manuscript in the evenings after work.
Then the real slog began, submitting the manuscript and tailoring cover letter after cover letter to agents and publishers. Whilst initially disappointed that I couldn’t place the novel with an Irish publisher, I was extremely excited when Cynren requested the full MS and subsequently made an offer. It has been a great experience working with Cynren and the book has had the benefit of selling straight into the American market on its release in October. The corollary of this however is that it has been hard to get the book onto shelves in Ireland, which is somewhat regrettable given the very positive reviews it has been getting from trade publications, literary authors and historians alike.
I really enjoyed peppering this book with phrases, taken directly from historic manuscripts, poems, annals etc. Also, throughout the book there are images and descriptions of artefacts or buildings, roadways, or forts etc that have been excavated over the years in Ireland. Only those with a good knowledge or Irish archaeology will spot all of these. And then, there are the few references I have buried in the narrative of sites and objects that I have excavated and touched myself over the course of my digging career to date. But in general, if the reader is largely unaware of all of this, I hope that it will nonetheless serve to furnish a glimpse into a period alive and humorous and full of conflicted, complicated people who lived, loved and survived in whatever way was available to them.
(c) Paul M. Duffy
Author/Archaeologist | Paul Duffy Writings
About Run with the Hare, Hunt with the Hound:
On a remote Gaelic farmstead in medieval Ireland, word reaches Alberic of conquering Norman knights arriving from England. Oppressed by the social order that enslaved his Norman father, he yearns for the reckoning he believes the invaders will bring—but his world is about to burn. Captured by the Norman knight Hugo de Lacy and installed at Dublin Castle as a translator, Alberic’s confused loyalties are tested at every turn. When de Lacy marches inland, Alberic is set on a collision course with his former masters amidst rumours of a great Gaelic army rising in the west. Can Alberic navigate safely through revenge, lust and betrayal to find his place amidst the birth of a kingdom in a land of war?
Reviews
Run with the Hare, Hunt with the Hound is a shining example of what historical fiction should be. The reader leaves their own world behind and enters the vivid, darkly haunted world of twelfth-century Ireland. Through Duffy’s imaginative and lyrical prose, the reader can sense a deeper Irish history and mythology interacting with the characters, who are so real that I felt if I looked up from the page, I might see them in the room with me. Run with the Hare, Hunt with the Hound will definitely be one of my “Books of the Year.”
—Elizabeth Chadwick, author of The Greatest Knight and The Summer Queen
With luminous, gothic prose, Paul Duffy puts flesh on the bones of ancient Ireland. A novel rich in imagination and scholarly knowledge.
—Paul Lynch, author of Beyond the Sea and Grace
The experiences, hopes and fears of the compelling central character—Alberic—breathe humanity and depth into this convincing and taut reimagining of a violent and tumultuous period of Irish history. The multicultural world of twelfth-century Ireland is brilliantly evoked, and the story’s focus on the oppressed is informed by expert understanding of the culture of medieval Ireland and its colonisers. There can be few people today with a greater knowledge than Paul Duffy of the historical realities that underpin Alberic’s fictional journey, and he brings them forcefully to life in this wonderful novel.
—Elizabeth Boyle, author of Fierce Appetites
Pacy and vividly written, Run with the Hare, Hunt with the Hound offers a fascinating insight into Ireland at a crucial juncture in its history.
—David Butler, author of City of Dis
Order your copy online here.
