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In our Bookstore we have a collection of specially chosen book on the History of Dublin and Irish Genealogy. These books have been carefully chosen to help you in your research into your Irish family history. The bookstore is in association with Amazon so your purchases are safe and secure.

Barney and Molly - A True Dublin Love Story

A TRUE DUBLIN LOVE STORY

By Martin Duffy

FROM THE AUTHOR; I was born to write this book. Though I am the youngest of a Dublin working class family, thirteen of whom reached adulthood, I am the only one of the family who took an interest in writing and storytelling. A couple of years before my mother’s death I spent time recording a long interview with her - having at that time the vague notion of somehow writing something about her extraordinary life. After her death, I recorded interviews with my brothers and sisters and also with any surviving relatives of my Mam’s generation. Still I somehow never got down to writing the book until, a year and a half ago at a family reunion, it became a solid decision.

This book could be described as the antidote to ‘Angela’s Ashes’ in that it is the story of a working class couple who struggled to raise a family despite poverty and hardship - and did so with dignity and love. My parents, Barney and Molly Duffy, were devoted to each other and to their children as they raised their family first in the slums of Summerhill and the Coombe and later in Crumlin. My research has brought together stories and reminiscences from brothers and sisters who, through emigration and other reasons, had never gathered all these strands of the family life together. My book tells the story of a Dublin that today’s generation could hardly imagine. I have told the story, too, within the frame of the political and social tumult of an Ireland establishing its independence and trying to create a State that could give work and decent living standards to its booming population.

When my parents met in Summerhill in Dublin’s inner city in 1923, they began a life journey that was both heroic and typical. Within my family, this book has bonded us even more and I am very proud of my work. I hope the book will be read by anyone who cares about family, who cares about being Irish, or who simply would enjoy this story about the heroism and love my parents shared.

The book as described by EASONS;

BARNEY AND MOLLY is an inspiring family history from Martin Duffy (The Boy from Mercury, The Testimony of Taliesin Jones, The Bumblebee Flies Anyway). Martin was the youngest of thirteen children growing up in a tiny two-bedroom Dublin Corporation house, the collection of anecdotes make for a greatly entertaining read. The story follows the family struggles alongside the young Irish nations struggles, from the violent streets of the 1916 Rising, the Emergency, the Troubles and the toll of emigration. Above all it is a story about love and resourcefulness, and the strength of the couple who scraped together everything they could to raise their children out of dreadful poverty. Told with honesty and humour, this is a celebration of family that belongs on any bookshelf.

Barney and Molly - A True Dublin Love Story

VISIT THE SLIDE SHOW OF PHOTOS FROM THE BOOK;

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