On an evening in 1846 engaged couple Meg O’Connor and Rory Quinn join in an exuberant moondance. Observing is the parish priest, Father Brian O’Malley. The moondance brings bittersweet memories of Siobhan, the long-dead love of his youth, with whom he still feels a spiritual connection. Within days of the dance, the villagers of Kelegeen awake to find their potato crops destroyed by blight. … They’ve been through famine before. But this is an Gorta Mór, a monster the likes of which Ireland has never seen.
At first Meg and Rory devise ways to help provide for their families, Meg through her sewing, Rory with his wood carving. But when tragedy and a costly mistake end those means of survival they turn to more dangerous ventures.
Father O’Malley reluctantly teams up with an English doctor, Martin Parker, to alleviate Kelegeen’s suffering.
When Meg learns of ships carrying Irish passengers to a new life in America she is determined to go and bring Rory and their families after her. It will take all her strength and courage along with the help of her beloved priest and the English doctor to make the plan succeed.
more
It was my pleasure to choose this book to read and I had to write a review. What a story. I had heard of the potato famine yet what I read was far beyond my knowledge. I am very glad it was written as a reminder of those wonderful endearing folk who suffered. Many survived with terrible haunting memories. To battle each day and go on not knowing if a mouth of food was forthcoming. The deaths from starvation and the breaking down of homes when tenant could not afford to pay rent was shameful. No mercy was shown and people excepted their lot. Father O’Malley, what a special spirit who walked and displayed the love and non-judgment of Jesus to all he touched. The young people looking forward to marriage and having to wait in expectation. Finally, migration for two. This story will remain in my thoughts for a long time, and rightly so. God bless the author who penned the amazing descriptions that took the reading right into living the life painful life right alongside those bygone folk. Wonderful!!
Kelegeen enters the world of The Great Hunger through the eyes of neighboring farm families and their dedicated parish priest and his unlikely friendship with an area doctor. Love for each other see them through terrible hardships and injustice. Meg and Rory provide a lovely romance. Hope is on the wind by the end…can’t wait for the sequel and life in America!
Ah, Ireland! I was contacted by the author, Eileen O’Finlan for a review of Kelegeen and of course since it was about Ireland, I jumped at the chance. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen health issues, it was a year before I actually got time to read it.
The Great Hunger, or An Gorta Mór1845-1849, was a time of starvation and despair. Crops failed because of disease. As people were running out of food, they started getting ill from the diseases that come from starvation. In the book, Meg O’Connors family is one of the families that was affected by the blight. They tried to stay upbeat looking toward getting married, Meg and Rory Quinn found ways to help support the family during this terrible time. Meg, her mother, and her sisters took in sewing and Rory carved little trinkets and other pretty things out of wood. An unfortunate accident for Rory takes that talent away as his hand is smashed.
Father O’Malley the parish priest for Kelegeen is one of those priests that should be a saint. He does his rounds to all the families as they become ill along with an English doctor, Martin Parker. These two men become friends and they both do what they can to help the people suffering from hunger and disease. Father O’Malley has demons of his own, he had been engaged to be married to Siobhan. She was murdered by an English soldier and after that Father decides to become a priest.
Not only did the residents of Kilegeen have to deal with the potato blight, but they also had the English. Their land was taken away and they had to pay rent, if they did not have the money to pay, their homes, which in most cases were hovels, were torn down. The Irish language was outlawed, and the Catholic religion barely tolerated.
After the famine went on for years, Meg and Rory decided that she would go to America if their crops failed again. By this time there had been so many deaths for their own families and others in the community, that this is what people were doing. Go to America and send back money and bring their families over. This was how the book ended, I sure hope the author continues the story as I want to see how the O’Connor and Quinn families fare. This book is so well written that the story of the famine and how the families are affected just tugged at the heartstrings. The characters are well written and the story very well researched.
I am of Irish descent and doing my ancestry tree and there are a lot of people in the family that were in Ireland during this time frame. As I got further into the story I could almost feel the emotions and the heartbreak. Looking for a historical fiction read? I think you should put this one on your TBR stack, preferably at the top! I read this book in only a few sessions and I really enjoyed it!