	When Eamonn Martin and Gene Lambert of Clashganna Mills met Theo Dorgan of Poetry Ireland in March 1989, what all had in mind was a project that would raise substantial funds while at the same time being a venture worthwhile in itself. Out of that meeting came the first tentative idea of the Great Book. Clashganna had previously produced a book, The Land of Punt, with paintings by Lambert and poems by Paul Durcan. This new book, however, would be very different. 