ORDER NOW IN ADVANCE OF 6 AUGUST PUBLICATION DATE

SIGNED COPIES CAN BE COLLECTED AT ST PATRICK’S CHURCH, COWGATE ON 6TH AUGUST - THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF HIBERNIAN FC

Without this Irish priest’s work with the Old Town poor all those years ago, there would not be a Hibernian Football Club.

- PAT STANTON, former Hibernian Captain and Legend

Edinburgh’s First Hibernian is the first biography of Edward Hannan, a Catholic priest who rose from poverty in rural Ireland to become one of the most influential figures in 19th-century Edinburgh. Hannan worked tirelessly in the medieval Old Town to provide Catholic boys with an education and a sense of fulfilment that could save them from falling into a life of crime.

It is a tale of charity and commitment in a city still dominated by its Protestant elite, a tale that culminates in the foundation of Hibernian Football Club by members of the city’s Irish community in 1875 – surely Hannan’s most permanent legacy to his fellow citizens.

Mike Hennessy should be thanked for rescuing Hannan from obscurity, but for much more, too. He writes with the passion of a lifelong Hibs fan and with a keen feel for the texture of the city streets he knew as a boy, and his book makes a significant contribution to Edinburgh’s social, religious and sporting history.

—ALAN FORREST, EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF HISTORY, UNIVERSITY OF YORK

This is a stunningly researched piece of work that gives an intimate insight into an era as well as the genesis of a great football club.

Through the deep back story of a founding father, it is a serious historical piece but also a very readable one. You don’t have to be a Hibernian fan to enjoy it, but it might help.

—PAT NEVIN, BROADCASTER

I cannot imagine a world without Hibernian FC. The triumphs and disasters of the Club run so fiercely through my life that – at times – it felt like Hibs WAS my life.

This book is a moving and meticulously researched tribute to the Club’s founder… Canon Hannan’s lifetime’s work among the impoverished people of Edinburgh’s ‘Little Ireland’ is as good a case of a life well lived as anything I know of.

Every Hibs goal is in memory of Hannan and all those troublesome immigrants of the Cowgate.

Glory Glory to the Hibees.

—CHARLIE REID, THE PROCLAIMERS

As a current Edinburgh City Centre Councillor, I found this book a fascinating insight into our history. It is a meticulously researched account of the life of the main founder of Hibernian Football Club.

A fascinating read charting Edward Hannan’s life as it intertwined with the Catholic Community in Edinburgh. A must have for any Hibernian Supporter.

—MARGARET GRAHAM, EDINBURGH

The life and times of a cleric working in 19th century Edinburgh is an unlikely topic to hold my interest but as a lifelong fan of Hibernian I was fascinated to read of the origins of our Club and the circumstances of its creation.

Much has been written before but never with the diligent research into original documents as Mike Hennessy has put in.

The book gives a fascinating insight to the life of those who created this amazing football institution. It is a good read and I enjoyed learning more of the history of both the Club and my City.

—MALCOLM MCPHERSON, NON-EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN, HIBERNIAN FC

THE AUTHOR

Mike Hennessy is a native of Edinburgh, born in 1952, missing by a month the moment Hibernian last won the Scottish League. After graduating in History from Stirling University, Mike left Scotland in the hope of fame and fortune, neither of which materialised, living and working in London, Paris and Barcelona before settling in his current abode in East Cheshire. In retirement, he has kept himself fully occupied with various good causes such as the Princes Trust, and most recently writing this, his first book, about the man whose former residence he passed every week in his youth without realising it. Author proceeds from the book will be donated to the Hibernian Historical Trust.