Brendan Graham
Brendan Graham (born 1945) is an Irish songwriter and novelist. Among songs he has written or co-written are "Rock 'n' Roll Kids" (1994) and "The Voice" (1996), both of which won the Eurovision Song Contest for Ireland in their respective years, and "You Raise Me Up" (2002), which was an international hit as covered by various artists. Graham has written a best selling series of three novels: The Whitest Flower (London, Harper Collins, 1998), an Irish No. 2 best seller, The Element of Fire (Harper Collins, 2001) and The Brightest Day, The Darkest Night (Harper Collins, 2004). The Whitest Floweris set during Ireland's Great Famine. The Element of Fire continues the story: now a widow, Ellen Rua O'Malley flees her native land for Boston and the New World: with her are her two surviving children, Patrick and Mary, and the 'silent girl' whom Ellen has found wandering among the hordes of the dispossessed. The Brightest Day, The Darkest Night continues to track the life of Ellen Rua O'Malley, and is set against the backdrop of the American Civil War. It explores the themes of forgiveness and longing, and the changing role of women, set free by war from the protection of their men.
