Early Days Mick Mc Carthy 1st Edition Kildanore Press 1990. Back cover features praise for the book by John B.Keane.Inside Bryan McMahon who had been Mick's teacher writes a foreword.

Jackie Goodall in Ireland'd Own  meets the son of the larger-than-life Kerryman who established The Embankment in Tallaght as the hub of live entertainment for many years. The following is from that interview article.

The Embankment was the ‘El Dorado’ of live music venues and haunt of many a wild night for over two decades, from 1963 to 1985, and gave a spotlight to a host of singers and musicians such as Liam Clancy and Tommy Macken, The Fureys & Davy Arthur, Paddy Reilly and Planxty.

The man behind it all, Mick McCarthy, was a larger than life figure from Listowel in North Kerry.

Legend has as it that when Bob Dylan visited Dublin during his 1966 World Tour, he asked a taxi driver to take him to a place where he could hear some good music. He ended up at The Embankment in Tallaght. As usual, the pub was thronged and the doorman said, “No admittance.” “But it’s Bob Dylan,” the taxi man protested. The doorman had never heard of him but with some persistence, Bob was eventually allowed in. On stage, a group of young men called The Dubliners were playing and he was captivated. Most likely Bob stayed on the premises well past the legal closing hour, as was customary.

One of ten children, Mick stowed away on a cattle boat to Liverpool at the age of 14 without a penny in his pocket. Finding his way to London’s Piccadilly Circus he saw a picture of a boy on a bicycle in a Lyon’s Corner House which read ‘Would You Like To Be This Boy?’  
He got the job and cycled around London as a messenger boy for a year, getting to know all its nooks and crannies, eventually becoming a bricklayer’s apprentice.

“Meanwhile, in Belfast, Pop became Chairman of the Bricklayer’s Union.''

.”Irelands Own''

Condition  new, very minor wear.