The Vampire Donkeys of Dunquin

... the story

In 1970, I was on the West Coast of Ireland, camping outside the back of the local pub. Dunquin is a small fishing village. They were just about to close the village school, and we went to a dance there to raise a fighting fund. The priest sold bottles of Guinness from a crate, and two children played the accordion and fiddle (replaced at 11 o'clock by adults). The main dancing involved whirling round on each other's arms and there were several heads cracked during the evening.

As I and my friends strolled upon the beautiful clean beach, with a perfect blue sky and the breakers rolling in, I had a vision. The place had been used as the set for the film Ryan's Daughter, and we found an artificial road and the remains of papier-mâché rocks.

Playing the part to my friends of a film producer, I expounded on the notion of a true (Hollywood) Irish boy,  Buster O'Reilly (of course) who wore a T-shirt with 'I' for Ireland on, had freckles and red hair (of course) and who solved the mystery of the 'Vampire Donkeys of Dunquin'.

Fast forward to 1992. I was on  Nile cruise. We met some nice people, including a TV exec. I told her about my vision. When we got home, I drew the first episodes of what became the strip cartoon and sent them to her. She invited me to lunch and gave me a tour of the studios, but sadly never commissioned me for the programme. About that time, we were getting the first drawing programmes for computers, and I decided to attempt to produce them electronically.  Those first attempt are now long gone, but around 2000, I got my first graphics pad - and my website. Nothing could stop me from then on! The whole series was drawn and published.

Here it is in all its glory! Please enjoy  The Vampire Donkeys of Dunquin ... click here