The Limerick Writers’ Centre is delighted to launch Berlin Divided, a gripping new memoir by Limerick‑based author Seosamh Ó Cuinneagáin.
Born in Co. Kilkenny and long settled in Limerick, Ó Cuinneagáin traces his fascination with Germany back to childhood stories told by Paddy Stapleton, a Somme veteran whose tales of German precision sparked a lifelong curiosity. That early influence led him to study German at UCC and spend two decades of summers in Berlin, working by day in a cemetery and studying by night as he pursued advanced degrees in linguistics.
Berlin Divided offers a vivid, first‑hand account of Cold War Berlin, from the fear of crossing into the Soviet‑controlled East to conversations with former Wehrmacht officers who revealed the human realities behind Europe’s fractured history. Drawing on lived experience, scholarship, and rare personal encounters, Ó Cuinneagáin brings the tensions of a divided city sharply into focus.
He is also the author of Traces – The Way and Path of My Life (2018) and The Poorest of the Poor (2022).
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