Twenty Major is an award-winning Irish blogger. The name Twenty Major is a reference to a brand of cigarettes called Major

Major

Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

, available in packs of twenty. He lives in Dublin, Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 and says he still smokes in bars despite the smoking ban

Smoking ban

Smoking bans are public policies, including criminal laws and occupational safety and health regulations, which prohibit tobacco smoking in workplaces and/or other public spaces...

. His blog features tirades about life in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 and puns based on 80s pop music

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

.

He recently appeared in public for the first time with David McWilliams

David McWilliams

David McWilliams is an Irish journalist and economist. McWilliams has worked with as an economist with Central Bank of Ireland and as a banker with UBS bank and the Banque Nationale de Paris...

 at Leviathan: Political Cabaret

Leviathan: Political Cabaret

Leviathan: Political Cabaret is a regular debate and discussion event in Dublin, Ireland which is usually hosted by economist, writer and broadcaster, David McWilliams in Dublin's Button Factory...

Blog Features

He refers to a few of his friends in his blog including Jimmy the Bollix, Stinkin' Pete, Lucky Luciano, Hairy Mickey, Splodge and Dirty Dave. They all regularly get together in Ron's pub which is somewhere in the vicinity of South Circular Road. He owns a phenomenally aggressive hound called "Bastardface" and a savage kitten called "Throatripper".

Awards

He won three awards in the inaugural Irish Blog Awards in 2006: Best blog post, Most humorous blog post and overall Best blog. He was also given the 'Best blogger' award by the Irish Internet Association in the Net Visionary Awards 2006.

In the 2007 Irish Blog Awards he won 'Most humorous post' and the overall Best Blog award for the second year running.

At the 2008 Irish Blog Awards he won the award for Most Humorous Post and the overall award for Best Blog for the third successive year. He has ruled himself out of the running for this award for the 2009 awards.

Books

In March 2007 it was announced by arts and culture blogger Sinead Gleeson that Twenty Major had signed a two book deal with Hodder Headline

Hodder Headline

Headline Publishing Group is a British publishing company. It was founded in 1986 by Tim Hely Hutchinson, and acquired Hodder & Stoughton in 1992 to form Hodder Headline. It was acquired by Hachette Livre, from the WHSmith Group PLC, in 2005....

, making him the first Irish blogger to be offered a book deal. The first book, entitled "The Order of the Phoenix Park" which features characters and themes from the blog itself, was published in February 2008.

The second novel, entitled "Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder" was published in February 2009 by Hachette Books.

External links

• Twenty Major's blog - website
• New York Diary - Best blog post/Most humorous blog post - Irish blog awards 2006
• Irish Blog Awards Winners - Irish blog awards site
• Irish Internet Association Net Visionary awards