IT was no vicar's tea party when Morgan turned up to bless Hot Press journalist Liam Fay's new book, Beyond Belief a collection of stories about the weird and wonderful among Ireland's religious devotees.
As Morgan arrived at Tosca restaurant on Tuesday night wearing rather sinister shades, a crowd of tongue-in-cheek protesters were there to greet him. Their rabble-rousing built tip to a frenzy before the entire ensemble retired inside to listen to Morgan's "sermon".
A fair few of Fay's subjects turned up to partake of the loaves and fishes provided at Tosca's restaurant, including Father Fran Heaton, a frizzy-haired biker. Father Fran, who is a Tridentine priest, is now the lead singer with heavy metal band Plain Krazee and describes his; joint heroes as Ozzie Osborne (who he met in 1986 in the SFX) and the Pope. He was joined on the evening by his band manager, Debbie Burke, who also worked with indie band Ball, and another band member, Judas: "the most lovable satanist around".
The other person there who figures in the book was Tridentine bishop Michael Cox, who was dressed in full regalia. Another fan of the book, though not a character in it, was Roddy Doyle, who said he has packed his screen adaptation of Liam O'Flaherty's Famine off to his producer and is now hard at work on his next Dublin-based novel.
As its narrator is born in 1902, much of Roddy's time is spent chasing up details the most recent discovery being that Padraig Pearse cycled all through the 1916 Rising, complete with sword. Just that morning he had also received the manuscript of Finhar's Hotel, the group novel he worked on with Dermot Bolger, Anne Enright, Hugo Hamilton, Jennifer Johnston and others.
They have each written a chapter of the book, which centres on one night in a hotel as various characters wander in and out. Sounds a bit like the Beyond Belief party, really.