Hanna's Story: A Tipperary Heritage

Hanna's Story is an evocation of the life and times of the author's paternal grandmother, Johanna Loughnane. It opens a window onto a way of life that has now all but disappeared in Ireland, together with the religious certainties that circumscribed it. Widowed at thirty five she was left alone to manage the farm in Tipperary and raise her ten children during the troubled years of Ireland's fight for Independence. It is a life that vividly illustrates the social and political circumstances of the period, throwing light on the impact of those turbulent years on a farming family directly involved in the Irish War of Independence. Personal loss, the challenges of farming life and raising a large family amid huge social and political turmoil are all filtered through the experience of this resilient woman.