Daughters of Donegal
Reviews
Daughters of Donegal has enjoyed flattering reviews on Amazon. Please add yours!
Mission
Very special book, cannot recommend enough
This is a relatively quick read and a total enjoyment. I have family from Donegal, so the story resonated with my personal family history. It was an absolute pleasure to read this thoughtful and engaging book while reflecting on the experiences of my own forebears. I have given Daughters of Donegal to a number of friends of Irish and non-Irish descent, and it has been universally enjoyed.
If you are Irish, especially with Donegal roots, this is an absolute must. Even if you are not Irish, it is a lovely story that will make you appreciate the experiences of people living in earlier times and the rhythms of rural life of yore. --
Happenstance
Vision
Family, Heritage, Connection -- A Wonderful Story
This amazing book describes a time and a place so well, you feel you are there amongst the characters. A family story of love, loss, joy, pain and hope. At times, I was reminded of the opening scenes of Trinity, with the vivid descriptions of Irish families and living conditions in Donegal in the late 1800s.
However, this book is more than just history and more than just a memoir. It tells of the importance of family and connection; to loved ones, to traditions, to Ireland, and to the enduring importance of heritage. We should all be so lucky to have such a detailed account of our ancestors' lives.
With great admiration for the people who lived through these tales, I encourage all who are seeking greater connection (to their own families, to traditions, to heritage) to read this wonderful book. --
Michael McGowan,
Carrick Mor Irish Store
Glen Rock, NJ, USA
Vision
Heartwarming, wonderful read!
From the very beginning to the end, you feel like you are there with these amazing women. It's a testament to what love and family mean and how it overcomes life struggles. I wanted it to go on. To come away feeling proud of your Irish roots and the strong people that worked so hard for their families. A truly wonderful story. Highly recommend. --
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Dee Dee Burke
Vision
The Irish woman's strength and courage in the recounting of "her-story" rather than "his-tory"
Reading "Daughters of Donegal," I felt an extraordinarily strong connection to the female line of the author's Irish ancestors - to the trials, restraints, traditions and family values imposed on them by folklore, society, the church and the ruling English class. And I was quickly sensitized to the sad reality that Donegal was , for the British, merely an additional possession - another colony from which labor and products could be extracted upon demand, at little or no cost.
Male historians often neglect to document the political, communal and familial strengths and supports provided by the women living these histories. Too often these individuals are relegated to secondary status , writ small as as mere background props to the aggrandized successes and failures of their male counterparts.
This refreshing account, however, told from a woman's perspective, beautifully expresses in terms at once raw and tender the lives of the "Daughters of Donegal." It portrays the fortitude and courage demonstrated by Killybegs' female population, stalwart against both the societal restraints of small-town living and the arrogance of foreign rule. And in so doing, these women's stories stir emotions happy and sad, bitter and sweet, real and intriguing.
These women were survivors who remain inspirations to their succeeding generations.
While the author's account was personal, the experiences of her family women are universal - both historical flashbacks and an emotional recounting of ancestral lives to which any national or ethnic group could relate.
"Daughters of Donegal" is a fascinating and page-turning account that one wishes could have carried on through the author's upbringing among her contemporary Irish immigrants in NYC. --
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