Several books with a west of Ireland focus have been published to coincide with the Christmas market.
Sean Nixon, who retired in 1996, received medical attention on many occasions and had several X-rays for suspected broken bones during his time as officer with the Western Regional Fisheries Board.
His book, Guarding the Silver - a Life with Salmon and Sea Trout, is an account of his a very an early age. He grew up on the Burrishoole fishery in Co Mayo and learnt boating skills from his father and family.
Starting out as a boatman for visiting anglers, he was appointed by Guinness in 1957 to manage several important salmon and sea trout fisheries in Connemara. In 1974, he became inspector for fisheries for the Connemara district.
Mr Nixon gained a reputation for netting poachers, and within four years it is said that illegal activity was more or less brought to a halt.
In 1983, he was appointed manager of the Erriff fishery. During his time, he was a witness in over 500 court cases, from Donegal to Kerry.
Mr Nixon's book is published in a limited edition by Berry Press at £10 - contact Western Regional Fisheries Board at 091563118 for details of copies left.
Alice Taylor has given a glowing credit to Paul Gannon, who compiled and edited The Way It Was, an extraordinary record of social history in the west.
The days of the thatcher, the silver herring fishery and life before rural electrification are some of the many subjects dealt with in his illustrated collection of interviews and recordings.
The Way It Was is published by Mr Gannon himself at £9.95 in paperback, printed by Ashford Press, and is available in Galway and Mayo, including Kennys in Galway city. The author can also post on copies, and he can be contacted at 095-43905.
The contribution of NUI Galway to public life, and records of past graduates including William King, who coined the term "neanderthal man", Alice Perry, the world's first woman engineering graduate, and more recently, Mike Maloney, managing director of Gateway 2000 and Joe McDonagh, president of the GAA, is marked in a publication which coincides with 150 years of student enrolment.
From Queen's College to National University: Essays on the Academic History of QCG/UCG/NUI, Galway is edited by Prof Tadhg Foley of the university's English department and is published by Four Courts Press at £30, hardback.
Joseph Murphy had such success with the first edition of his book, The Redingtons of Clarinbridge that it sold out and he went into a second self-published run. He sets out to challenge the image of landlords as purely odious and cruel figures who caused terrible suffering to poor tenants through rack-renting and eviction.
Certainly, there was much of this in the 18th and 19th centuries, but the Redingtons of Galway took their responsibilities seriously as a Catholic gentry family, he says. Thomas Redington, the first Catholic under-secretary for Ireland, served during the Famine and was despised by the Young Irelanders because of his participation in government.
His family played a prominent role as commissioners of national education and supported non-denominational national schools in spite of the opposition to same by the Catholic hierarchy. The Redingtons of Clarinbridge by Joseph Murphy is £12, hardback, and all profits go to charity, according to the author. His book is available in bookshops or by contacting 091-796057.