A bizarre proposal to drain Lough Neagh reimagined in Jan Carson’s magical, moving and funny novel

According to history books like James Hawes’ recent The Shortest History of Ireland, Captain Terence O’Neill, prime minister of Northern Ireland between 1963 and 1969, was willing to “break every loyalist taboo” by working with taoiseach Seán Lemass. Not everyone agreed; least of all Ian Paisley, who threw snowballs at the taoiseach’s car when he visited Belfast at O’Neill’s invitation.