In the mid 1970's a group of young men left their homes in the West of Ireland, took the boat out of dublin Bay and sailed across the sea to England in the hope of making their fortunes and returning home. Twenty five years later only one, Jackie Flavin, makes it home, but does so in a coffin. The play takes place on the day that the winners and losers of the group meet up to drink to Jackie Flavin's memory and looks at their lives, lost in their dreams and their place in the new Ireland. The Kings of the Kilbum High Road was performed at the Tivoli Theatre, Dublin. It opens at the Tricycle Theatre, London in March 2001. Brothers of the Brush, first published in 1996, won the award for best new play when performed at the Dublin Theatre Festival, 1993. Jimmy Murphy has written a subtle, unsentimental lament for the working class in which a group of decorators, working together on a old house, misuse each other for their own advantage.