Liam's interest in the subject stems from the fact that his grandfather, John Nevin, was a key figure in the Randlestown experiment that saw tobacco grown commercially in Co. Meath at the turn of the 20th century. The entreprise continued well into the 1920s before it was finally abandoned. Realising the importance of the historical record contained in John Nevin's papers was what motivated Liam to write The Tobacco Fields of Meath. It is a fascinating account of Irish families at the turn of the twentieth century, struggling to make a go of a new crop in order to improve the lives of ordinary people and control the massive problem of unemployment and its consequence - emigration.