The Women Read online

  About the Author

  Alice Taylor

  I grew up on a farm in north Cork overlooking the Kerry mountains. At the time, rural houses like ours had neither electricity nor piped water, so life for women was not easy. Every day of the year I witnessed the amazing coping ability and resourcefulness of the women in my community. Of necessity, they bonded together to sustain their families and mastered the art of making do, while also developing their creativity. I grew up feeling that through their connectedness to each other, and to the land and animals, they nurtured the soul of Ireland. In today’s world their daughters and granddaughters live and work in communities all around the country, continuing to keep the lifeblood pulsing through the veins of Irish life, especially through their voluntary work. They are the unheralded and unsung heroes of our past and present.

  ALICE TAYLOR’S

  RECENT BOOKS:

  Do You Remember?

  And Time Stood Still

  The Gift of a Garden

  To School through the Fields

  (special edition)

  For a complete list,

  see www.obrien.ie

  Copyright

  This eBook edition first published 2015 by Brandon,

  an imprint of The O’Brien Press Ltd,

  12 Terenure Road East, Rathgar,

  Dublin 6, D06 HD27, Ireland

  Tel: +353 1 4923333; Fax: +353 1 4922777

  E-mail: [email protected].

  Website: www.obrien.ie

  First published 2015

  eBook ISBN: 978-1-84717-802-2

  Text © copyright Alice Taylor 2015

  Copyright for photographs © Emma Byrne

  Copyright for typesetting, layout, editing, design

  © The O’Brien Press Ltd

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or in any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.