Chapter 10 from Leaving Ireland “The wretched people were seated on the fences of their decayin’ gardens, wringing’ their hands and wailin’ bitterly the destruction that had left them foodless.” “I tell you Johannah, those were the exact words I heard the new priest, the traveling priest, tell Father Peter at the door after mass.…Read more Chapter 10: Marked Men

  Snow blew in around the door and the windows froze over so they no longer served a purpose. T’was not an ordinary Irish winter, this one. Snow was a rare thing, a time for the kiddies to play about in it, but then that was when they were rosy and fat from eatin' their…Read more Chapter 9: Working in the Road

“What do ye be talkin’ about so quiet over there?” Johannah asked as she turned from the dishes she and Mary were puttin’ away. Andrew and John were sittin’ across from each other at the table, dabbin’ up the last of the cake crumbs and sharin’ the bottle of porter Andrew had brought. “It’s niver…Read more Chapter 8: The Wren Boys

Patrick and Timothy led the parade homeward, stamping their foot prints in the fresh snow while Maggie hand-in-hand with Bridget followed, the two of them chatterin’ away like the long-lost sisters they were. John and Johannah watched their children laughin’, the boys now playin’ at who could run the fastest, and for all the pain…Read more Chapter 7: Christmas Dinner

  John finished the milkin’, a pleasant hummin’ fillin’ the small space. He liked the peace and quiet of milkin’, always a place for thinkin’ since the cows niver had ennathin’ much to say. Of a sudden it came to him, as he thought over the last months and the harvest or lack of much…Read more Chapter 6: A Surprise at Mass

John laid another block of turf on the fire and slid into bed waiting for Johannah to finish with the little ones, then wrapped himself around her to warm her chilled body. The children deserved the warm fire, he thought as he drifted uneasily toward sleep. “John, do you hear that.” She struck him in…Read more Chapter 5: A Long Night

  “They came for them, them at the manor house, didn’t they? Finally there’s a few taties to be et and we have to watch them go off the land to some other man’s bairns. There’s grain to make flour and we must, as we always must, watch it to be loaded onto wagons to…Read more Chapter 4: The New Stories Grow The More Bitter

Johannah traced a path, into the dark of the cottage and back to the road, sometimes pickin’ Bridget up and buryin’ her own face in the wee one’s neck and prayin’ to the Virgin to bring her boys back alive. Other times, she set the child back down again as if freein’ Bridget from her…Read more Chapter 3: Johannah Speaks

The Lost Boys 1846, chapter 2 of Leaving Ireland All the way back to the cottage, John scoured the fields and called until his troat dried up and squeaked only useless sounds, and none that would be after carryin’ far. “Patrick, Timothy! Patrick, Timothy, answer me!” Hot and cold pursuing him, anger and fear. Finally,…Read more Chapter 2: The Lost Boys

Did you ever wonder how your family came to be in Bradford County? I knew my father's side of the family, the Brennans came from Ireland, journeying here at the height of the potato famine in 1848. Over a million other Irishmen who wanted better for their families left home between 1845 and 1850. But…Read more Chapter 1: So how did they get here to Bradford County?