John O'Brien

It is a history of the interaction between Politics and Policing in Ireland over five generations. Obviously my perspective is that of garda officer both serving and retired. This approach has not been previously attempted. The Book started out as a straight forward memoir of my garda service 1968 — 2006. Slowly but surely it emerged that the single biggest influencer on policing was political. This influence was largely domestic but Northern Ireland...

The Assault on Tony's is an unapologetic, unsentimental, and at times exuberant examination of the joys and sorrows of intoxication, combining the inimitable unflinching eye and grim wit of John O'Brien, author of Leaving Las Vegas. Barricaded in a bar called Tony's while a riot rages outside, the characters that people The Assault on Tony's are united by their desire to drink to the end, no matter what the consequences. In this stark and darkly humorous...

Before the Civil War, North Alabama was infamous for lawlessness. The era saw courts filled with defendants who spanned the socioeconomic gamut-farmers, merchants and politicians. In 1811, John B. Haynes tore apart William Badger's house with his bare hands. Rodah Barnett ran a series of ill-reputed brothels in the early 1820s. In 1818, Rebecca Layman "accidentally" gave her husband sulfuric acid instead of rum. There is even a case of assault with...

Women's Ordination in the Catholic Church argues that women can be validly ordained to ministerial office. O'Brien shows that claims by Roman dicasteries for an unbroken chain of authoritative tradition on the non-ordainability of women--a novel rather than traditional argument--are not historically supported. In the primitive Church, with the offices of deacon, presbyter, and bishop in process of development, women exercised ministries later understood...

An illustrated version of the traditional children's rhyme.