Coppers meets Ross O’Carroll Kelly

In his heyday, the elusive Dublin nightclub Lillie’s Bordello was Ross O’Carroll Kelly’s most notorious haunt, a plaque was erected outside commemorating his antics.

But, it is Copper Face Jacks, the iconic beacon for Irish party-goers – hailing from in and outside the M50 – that is the present focus of Paul Howard, the man behind the fictional southside star.

Ross O'Carroll Kelly plaque, Lillie's Bordello. Since it was erected in 2015 this plaque has since been stolen.

It was announced in recent weeks that Paul’s latest venture, Copper Face Jacks: The Musical, will run at the Olympia Theatre this July.

Naturally, it has garnered significant interest from the multitudes of Coppers patrons: nurses, guards, teachers and students alike.

But how, Irish Country Living wants to know, did this amazingly simple, but brilliant idea come to be?

Well, from adversity great things can arise, and for Paul that most definitely was the case. The musical he penned previously, Anglo: The Musical, was performed at the same time the Anglo trail was up in court.

This led to a harrowing situation for Paul as playwright and Darren Smith as producer.

“Darren and I were having lots of meetings with solicitors.

There was one meeting in the morning to discuss whether or not we might lose our homes and the one in the afternoon was to discuss whether or not we might go to prison for contempt of court.

It was funny, because in between those two meetings Darren just turned to me and said: ‘God, we should have just done Copper Face Jacks: The Musical.’

“It was just one of those moments where our eyes widened and we said: ‘That’s exactly what we will do next’.

"So something happy came out of this sort of horrendous situation we had with Anglo: The Musical.”

Even before the whole Anglo debacle, Coppers had happy associations for Paul.

In his younger years it was definitely the Dubliner’s socialising spot of choice (although he now insists that, at 47, he is too old).

Copper Face Jacks: The Musical poster.

“Back in the day, when I was a younger man, when I was a single man, I used to go to Coppers a huge amount, because I could never get into Renards, Lillie’s or any of those really trendy clubs in Dublin,” explains Paul.

“It’s really part of why Coppers is so successful, I think: it never had that exclusive door policy that a lot of clubs had during the Celtic Tiger.

“Everyone within reason had a chance of getting into Coppers. You could get in wearing an Offaly jersey or a Kerry jersey. It’s one of the things that made Coppers unique.”

ROCK

So really, Paul couldn’t be more different to the rugby-playing, Dub-wearing, wealth-flaunting Ross if he tried.

On the cover of one of the books he even describes himself as being “as working-class as processed cheese slices” and soccer, not rugby, was always his sport of choice.

It was through Paul’s work as a sports journalist for the now-defunct Sunday Tribune that Ross was born.

As a young sports reporter, Paul cut his teeth covering schools rugby matches, something that was quite alien to him.

“I was suddenly exposed to this world that just seemed so strange to me – and so glamorous, in a kind of funny, ironic way.

"You had men who left these schools 30 years ago, who still go back to support the old school.

"You had these ladies wearing fur coats and the most glamorous clothes, standing in the mud of Skerries watching a rugby match,” laughs Paul.

"I just found the whole thing – from a social observation point of view – really, really fascinating.

“I heard a kid say to his dad: ‘I don’t give a fock how you think I played, just crack open the wallet.’ He was the prototype for Ross’.

“The humour in Ross is how absurd his world view is,” explains Paul.

“When he hears anyone from the northside of Dublin talking he hears Nidge out of Love/Hate.

When he hears anyone from outside Dublin talking – and I mean anywhere south of the Loughlinstown Roundabout and west of Dundrum Shopping Centre – they sound like Peig Sayers.

Changes

Paul has been writing Ross O’Carroll Kelly for 20 years in the form of columns, novels and plays. Despite the character being born from negative emotions, over the years the writer has grown fond of him.

Particularly during the recession, when he didn’t have affluence underpinning the certainty of his happiness.

Another thing that has changed over time is who Paul perceives his audience to be.

Originally the writer thought it would be non-Ross types, but in fact, he has a massive fan base among people who are of a similar background to the character.

Paul never intended to create Ross O’Carroll Kelly, just like he never purposely went out of his way to write Copper Face Jacks: The Musical.

“I really thought I would be covering soccer matches until I retired at 65 or 70, but then the Ross thing took off … and suddenly I realised that I didn’t have time to be a sports writer anymore.

“It’s like what John Lennon said: ‘Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans’ – and that’s the way it was for me.

"The whole thing just crept up on me and now I don’t know how I could ever go back to being a sports writer.”

Anglo: The Musical and Copper Face Jacks: The Musical are puppet-based productions, and it has been bandied around that the third will be Dermot Bannon: The Opera. Paul Howard says of the proposed production: “Darren put that in the press release, it was completely untrue as of when he wrote it, but like most of Darren Smith’s ideas, once you put it on paper… I think it’s a great idea. I laughed when he said Copper Face Jacks: The Musical and I laughed when he said Dermot Bannon: The Opera – so why not? As long as it’s not like one of Dermot Bannon’s homes: running six months over and €100,000 over budget.”

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