Madhouse: The naked truth about my chaotic childhood, losing my mind and finding a place to call home

'An absolutely brilliant read' Patrick Kielty, Late Late Show, RTÉ ‘Blisteringly honest . . . hilarious, traumatic, joyful and terrifying. Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy read!’ Liz Nugent 'Gloriously unabashed . . . vibrant, poignant and surprisingly hopeful' Irish Times I grew up in a psychiatric experiment crossed with an alcoholic experiment. . . . a place run by two people who were extraordinarily drunk and guarded by a potentially vicious dog with a brain tumour. PJ Gallagher spent much of his childhood knocking back Lucozade with the local alcoholics in his parents' northside pub. But the chaos that reigned for his first ten years was nothing compared to what happened when - having lost the pub - his mum took in six psychiatric patients from the local hospital to give them 'care in the community'. Worst. Idea. Ever. Madhouse is PJ's riotous life story. Covering everything from dogs, motorbikes and the art of small talk, to the lessons of mental breakdown and finally figuring out love, this is PJ unbound. Most surprising - to PJ more than anyone - is the prospect of becoming a dad in his late forties, when he always thought of 'family' as a trap. Madhouse is the funny, insightful and moving story of someone just trying to keep his head above water - and how he is making sense of it all at last! 'Terrifically honest, as well as a being funny and sad' Matt Cooper, The Last Word, Today FM 'Delivered in Gallagher’s brilliantly blunt northside brogue, evoking a shade of Roddy Doyle' Irish Independent 'Tells his story with humour and insight making it feel as though you are chatting with an old friend' Irish Examiner 'Bold, anarchic . . . relates wild antics and traumas from his tumultuous life with both humour and perceptive clarity' Business Post 'So open . . . amazing for understanding and trying to destroy the stigma [of mental health struggles] . . . a great read' Elaine Crowley, Ireland AM, Virgin Media