![]() ![]() ![]() Marita Conlon-McKenna was born in 1956, grew up in south Co Dublin, and attended Mount Anville School. RTE and Channel 4 screened a series based on the story. This book was on the Irish bestseller's list for more than two years, and has been translated into numerous languages, including Japanese and Irish. But what they have lost - their home and family - weighs heavily on them.Ī radio report on an unmarked children's famine grave prompted Conlon-McKenna to write this heart-warming story of bravery and determination, the first part of her best-selling trilogy on the famine. Yet the children are fortunate: their great-aunts welcome them. Peggy's life is threatened after she is savaged by a dog. ![]() The stark reality of death looms constantly. The children have to overcome their repulsion at having to kill rabbits and consume cow's blood. So they set off on the dangerous journey to Castletaggart, their great-aunt's home.įighting their hunger is a constant struggle. The children are determined to avoid certain death in the workhouse, where the poor are sent. Their mother leaves them alone to go in search of their father. Their baby sister dies and is buried under a hawthorn tree. The family of young Eily, Michael and Peggy, around whom this story revolves, does not escape. Everywhere people are dying or emigrating. It is 1845 and the potato crop has failed in Ireland, bringing terrible hunger and plague. ![]()
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