An Irish Country Childhood

An Irish Country Childhood is that of one Mary Kate Ferguson, known to her family as Marrie, growing up in the 1930s and early 1940s as part of an idyllic community in the beautiful County Mayo, West Ireland. Her memoirs take the reader to a time and a way of life now long disppeared, exploring lives that were intricately bound with the natural world in a small, close-knit farming community that was as resourceful as it was poor.

Marrie's vibrant stories tell of a world where matchmaking, house masses, wakes and farewell parties for the numerous young men and women who emigrated to find work abroad take place in the midst of thatched cottages, peat fires, spring wells and mythical fairies ridiging on the backs of hares.

This is an era that no longer exists. Marrie Walsh brings to life this colourful array of local characters and, with a mixture of tenderness, nostalgia and wit, renders them in a series of touching portraits and tales. Poor in wordly wealth and tied to the land but rich in love, kindness and good spirit, the people brought to life in this book are an inspiring and heart-warming reminder of a way of life lost in the past.