West In the Foggy Valley: Thiar I nGleann Ceo

Translated into English by Mary Kelly-White.

When Tadhg ORabhartaigh wrote this book Thiar I nGleann Ceo, in 1953, in his native Irish language he compiled a social history of the life and times of the Arigna people; the greed of the Landlords, the poverty and oppression of the tenants, the atrocious conditions endured by the miners in the coal mines, the struggle for freedom during the Troubles, the havoc wrought by the Black and Tans, the murder of Irish Republican Soldiers who were bombed inside the coal mine when the refused to surrender.

We learn from an impassioned speech delivered by Marcus Mac Alastair, only son of the notorious Landlord, that he knew Padraig Mac Piarais, Mc Donadh, Plunket, OCleirigh, O Conghaile and Sean Mac Diarmada personally from his university days in Dublin.

Woven through the book is a harrowing but beautiful love story. If this book was a painting it would be a Picasso, and now translated it is a treasure to be enjoyed by the whole English speaking world. You will enjoy it.