English author goes back to her Tipperary roots for latest book

An English author with Tipperary connections has concluded more than 30 years of research into her family roots by recently publishing her second book about her ancestors in Ballingarry.

Launched last November, ‘Penalised’ is a prequel to her first book, ‘First to Go’, which was written by Pam Skelton.

The 87-year-old, who lives in Taunton, Somerset, says “A couple of years ago I wrote an article for the Ballingarry Parish Journal about my family.

“Although I live in Somerset, I have a strong affinity with Ireland, particularly county Tipperary and have spent numerous holidays there and made many friends.

“My grandmother Bridget Frisby was born in the small townland of Islands, near Ballingarry.

“I have always been interested in that side of my family, as my grandmother died before I was born and I only knew of her through family stories.

“I always wanted to know more about her and I have been researching my family roots for over 30 years.

“As a result, I decided to put pen to paper and document the details I had found in a pamphlet. But there was so much information that this grew into a novel and my first book ‘First To Go’ was born.

“It is the true life story of Bridget Frisby, my grandmother”.

Following the success of her first book, Pam Skelton decided she should expand the story of her ancestors in another publication.

“My new book ‘Penalised’' follows the lives of five generations of the Frisby family, from the late 18th century through to the end of the 19th century,” she says.

“The family lived in the same house at Islands all this time and were still there at the time of the 1911 census. My great grandfather was a national school teacher at Mohober school for almost 30 years”.

‘Penalised’ includes a family tree of the five generations who lived all their lives in Tipperary.

It tells the story of the family surviving through the tumultuous and important years of 19th century Ireland.

This includes their survival throughout 100 years in the face of the Rebellions of 1798 and 1848, the Famine, plague, evictions, faction fighting and the Irish Brigade in the Papal Wars in Italy.

It also highlights the fight for Catholic emancipation, hedge teachers and the celebration of Mass in the fields.

The book has been praised as “a rigorously researched and perfectly presented depiction of life in part of 19th century Ireland”.

Pam says, “I wrote this book to share it with family and friends. When I saw the final product, I was overwhelmed”.

‘Penalised’ is available from Amazon in E-book, paperback or hardback format.