'Mr. Peader O'Donnell has, as Mr. Robert Lynd truly says, brought a family to life in his novel Islanders... The curtain is lifted on the rough heroic struggle for existence of a community of Irish fishermen off the western coast, and we are privileged for a brief space to join them in their griefs and pleasures as one of themselves.. It is excellent to find a book in which there is no more straining after effect than there is in the best of Wordsworth's sonnets. There is no hint of mere cleverness from beginning to end' Daily Telegraph

Islanders

O'Donnell, Peadar

Literature & Fiction

Irish Amer Book Co

Big Windows

Biographies & Memoirs

The OBrien Press

When Tom Manus brings his new wife, Brigid, from her island home to his small farm on the mainland, a community's age-old customs are shattered. Out of the ensuing conflicts, Peadar O'Donnell has fashioned a memorable novel and a social document.

The Big Windows

Genre Fiction

The O'Brien Press

Knife

British & Irish

Dufour Editions

Ulster in 1912. In the border territory of Donegal Protestant farmers of the rich Lagan Valley confront the hill-farmers of Catholic Gaeldom, driven out from the lands their ancestors once owned. There is consternation as a Catholic family, the Godfrey Dhus, buys into the Protestant enclave. In far-off Dublin the Easter Rising takes place, and the 'Troubles Times' spread through the Irish countryside. Insurrection is followed by Civil War. 'Knife' Godfrey Dhu is at the centre of the fight on the Republican side and fiery red-headed Nuala Godfrey Dhu is its inspiration. She is courted by Catholic Phil Byrne, Protestant Sam Rowan and the wistful, fair-minded Doctor Henry. Which of them will carry the day?

The Knife: A Tale of Irish Troubles

Irish Humanities Centre

Classics

Read Books

Peadar O'Donnell became involved in Irish republicanism through his initial involvement in socialism as an organiser for the ITGWU. When he was unsuccessful in establishing a branch of the Irish Citizen Army in Derry he joined the IRA and led guerrilla activities in Donegal and Derry during the War of Independence. He was a member of the Executive of the anti-Treaty IRA and was in the Four Courts when it was attacked by Free State forces. He was arrested shortly afterwards and was involved in organising a hunger strike among the anti-Treaty Republicans which lasted 41 days. While in prison he began writing 'to escape the bare walls of the prison cell'. This is a story of prison life in the midst of Civil War in Ireland that combines glimpses of humour with moments of tragic poignancy as the author describes games of handball and bridge with men who faced the firing squad within twenty-four hours.O'Donnell was one of the last survivors of the Independence struggle in Ireland, retaining his radicalism and idealism right up to his death in 1986 at the age of 93.

The Gates Flew Open: An Irish Civil War Prison Diary

History

Europe

Mercier Press

Written by one of Ireland's greatest historical and literary figures, socialist, republican and novelist, Peader O'Donnell, Islanders is an epic story of life in a small island community of Donegal.

Islanders: An Epic Story of Life in a Small Island Community Off Donegal

Literary

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Books by O'Donnell, Peadar