The No.1 bestselling novel of the Great Irish Famine from one of Ireland's most beloved writers

Ireland's hopes for freedom are dashed with the arrival of a deadly potato blight that strikes terror in the heart of its people.

1845. Seamstress Mary Sullivan's dreams of a better future are shattered as she looks out over their ruined crop. Refusing to give in to despair, she must use every ounce of courage and strength to protect her family as they fight to survive.

Dr Dan Donovan is Medical Officer to the Skibbereen Union. The arrival of 'The Hunger' soon brings starving men, women and children crowding into the town and the workhouse, desperate for assistance.

Fr John Fitzpatrick's faith is tested by the suffering that surrounds him as his pleas for help fall on deaf ears.

Inspired by true Irish heroes, The Hungry Road is the heartbreaking story of the Great Irish Famine told by one of Ireland's best loved writers.

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'Compelling ... An essential book' Sunday Times

'Heartbreaking and powerful' Her.ie

'Gripping' Business Post

'Captivating' Sunday Independent

'Powerful ... illustrate[s] the enormity of the tragedy' Irish Independent

The No.1 bestselling novel from one of Ireland's most loved writers!

With the threat of the First World War looming, tension simmers under the surface of Ireland.

Bright, beautiful and intelligent, the Gifford sisters Grace, Muriel and Nellie kick against the conventions of their privileged, wealthy Anglo-Irish background and their mother Isabella's expectations.

As War erupts across Europe, the spirited sisters soon find themselves caught up in Ireland's struggle for freedom.

Muriel falls deeply in love with writer Thomas MacDonagh, artist Grace meets the enigmatic Joe Plunkett - both leaders of 'The Rising' - while Nellie joins 'The Citizen Army' and takes up arms to fight alongside Countess Markievicz in the rebellion.

On Easter Monday 1916, the Rising begins, and the world of the Gifford sisters and everyone they hold dear is torn apart in a fight that is destined for tragedy.

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'Engrossing' Sunday Times

'Marvellous ... A gripping read' Irish Independent

'Finally, women are being written back into the history of [Ireland's] awakening' Irish Mail on Sunday

A magical short story from the collection, BEYOND THE STARS, written and illustrated by two great Irish talents in children’s fiction today

Cass and her family have moved to Galway because of her dad’s job and Cass is devastated – she misses her old friends and school, and hates living in a strange house in a strange town. But when she stumbles upon a mysterious antique snow globe at the local Christmas market, little does she know that her fortunes are about to change…

A heartfelt story, beautifully complemented by gorgeous artwork.

Look out for the other eleven stories - also available as e-shorts!

Everything changes for Kate, Moya and Romy when they receive word that Maeve Dillon, their mother, is critically ill. It is time to return from Dublin, London and New York to Rossmore and the old stone house overlooking the Irish Sea where they grew up. But ancient jealousies surface as each sister confronts the past and the decisions they have made.
For work-driven Kate it is time to take stock of her role as a high-flying ambitious lawyer and single parent; life is a battle between work and looking after Molly with little time for a proper relationship. Even Patrick, the man she once fell for, has ended up marrying her sister. Beautiful and intense Moya must take a hard look at her marriage to the charming but unfaithful Patrick and consider her own worth. For wild child Romy who has travelled the world and hasn't put a foot on Irish soil for years, it is time to finally stop running and find the courage to confront her family.
A good and caring mother, Maeve Dillon has somehow over the years labelled each of her three daughters: Moya the beautiful, Kate the brains, and Romy, the bold and wild one. Now it is finally time for all three to break out of the box.

Maggie Ryan can't help it! She constantly finds herself organizing and meddling in the lives of others, trying to match things and people together, from her neighbours in Dublin's Pleasant Square to her own family. With three bright, beautiful daughters who are still single Maggie decides that a little romantic matching is needed.

However matchmaking is not as easy as it seems and Maggie's quest to find the perfect partner for each of her reluctant daughters is proving difficult.

Her architect daughter Grace has had enough of heartbreak and given up on men deciding instead to concentrate on her career. Poetry obsessed Anna believes that no man can ever live up to her hero W.B.Yeats. While single-parent Sarah devotes so much time to her little girl Evie that romance constantly passes her by.

Determined to get 'rings on those fingers' Maggie Ryan believes that the arrival of bachelor Mark McGuinness, who has just purchased a house on 'The Square', is an opportunity far too good to be missed!

Inheritance changes everything, as Ella Kennedy soon discovers when her father dies and the hundred-acre farm she has grown up on and run for years in the Wexford countryside is no longer hers. Hurt and angry following a fight with her brother, Ella leaves her home and people she cares for and joins her wild cousin Kitty in Dublin.

Exiled in the city, Ella is forced to make a new life for herself like the other country girls. She tries to forget the farm, pushing all thoughts of Sean Flanagan, the neighbour she had loved, from her mind. In time she hopes to return to the home she left and find true happiness with a man who wants her for herself, and not what she will bring him.

Martha MacKenzie was an ordinary woman. Nothing extraordinary had ever happened to her, unless she counted her marriage to Dan and the birth of her three perfect, healthy children. Until the day of the accident, when she touched the Lucas boy as he lay dying on the tarmac, and they said she saved him. That was the start of it all...

As word of her healing spreads, Martha's life and the lives of those around her are radically altered. Hounded by the media and those in desperate search of hope and miracles, Martha is forced to decide what is most important in her life.

Hats! Hats! Hats!Upbrims, sidesweeps, silks, ribbons and trims all become part of Ellie's life when she inherits the little hat shop on Dublin's South Anne Street.But the city is changing and Ellie must decide if she wants to follow the hat-making tradition of her mother or accept a generous offer to sell the shop.

Encouraged by her friends, Ellie takes on the hat shop and her quirky designs and tempting millinery confections soon attract a rich assortment of customers all in search of the perfect hat.

Creating hats for weddings, shows, fashion and fun, and falling for the charms of Rory Doyle along the way, Ellie is happier than she has ever been before. But as her fingers work their magic she discovers a lot can happen in the heart of a city like Dublin...

Fostered out several times, Blue finds it difficult to fit in. Is there no one out there who really wants her? No one who can really love her?

Blue must put up with the orphanage, with the distant and strict care of the nuns. She does have her friends, Mary and Jessie and Molly and Lil, but they're not family. They're not enough.

In her heart, Blue is desperate to find out who she really is. The closed file in stern Sister Regina's office holds the secret of her identity. And that is forbidden territory ...

The final book in the famine trilogy

For Eily, Michael and Peggy the memory of the famine is still strong. But Mary-Brigid, Eily's first child, has the future to look forward to. What kind of future is it?

Ireland is in turmoil, with evictions, burnings, secret meetings, fights over land. Eily and her family may be thrown off their farm. Michael may lose his job in the big house. And Peggy, in America, feels trapped in her role as a maid. Will they ever have land and a home they can call their own? Eily, Michael and Peggy have once shown great courage. Now this courage is called on again …

The other titles in the Famine trilogy are Under the Hawthorn Tree and Wildflower Girl. A study guide to Under the Hawthorn tree is also available.