Tales from the Ivory Tower recalls moving or amusing incidents from a career in healthcare and academia, and often makes a serious point without belabouring it. The tales include accounts of a terrifying car journey through the Kuwaiti night desert; helping a bishop at risk of unfair prosecution; and surprisingly comical events in a hospital threatened with closure. They are built around aspects of everyday life including public transport; life-skills like dancing, mitching from work/school and meditation; travel to exotic places; and a fascination with personal spirituality that allows us to escape the excesses of religion. They also provide a sideways glimpse at the inner workings of hospitals and universities.

Tales from the Ivory Tower frames a successful career in Trinity College, St James's Hospital and the international arena. But perhaps more importantly it is rooted in Dublin city and West Clare, and alert to the humour and wisdom encountered away from the cut and thrust of life in the Ivory Tower. Far from a typical memoir, Tales from the Ivory Tower is sometimes sad, often happy, sometimes humorous, sometimes earnest and mostly true, and it offers an elegiac view of things Ireland needs but may not quite deserve.