In her west Cork refuge, Jules Thomas paints, tends the garden — and writes her memoirs. Wishing Jules the Best of Luck, this Lady, Deserves a Break in Life.

Former partner of Ian Bailey says her work keeps her from sliding down the ‘slippery slope’

Jules Thomas is a busy woman. She is preparing for her first Dublin art exhibition, chasing her “very lively” cat, Graham, around the barn and finishing a book on her life. And with murder suspect Ian Bailey entangled in it for three tumultuous decades, it holds the promise of revelations to come.

“I’ve been told not to talk about it, but…” Jules says, disarmingly, about the memoir and what it might contain. She is speaking from her art studio and home deep in west Cork, an area that became the centre of one of Ireland’s most enduring murder cases until the death of her former partner Bailey.