Donegal couple's memoir draws huge crowd to Gort an Choirce for launch
Unbroken: Secrets, Lies and Enduring Love - the gripping memoir of Donegal couple Mary Attenborough and Michael Gallagher - was launched at Óstán Loch Altan, Gort an Choirce on Friday, July 4.
Donegal couple Mary Attenborough and Michael Gallagher were aided by TD Pearse Doherty to launch their gripping new memoir.
Unbroken: Secrets, Lies and Enduring Love was launched at Óstán Loch Altan, Gort an Choirce on Friday, July 4.
Friends, neighbours and well-wishers gathered in large numbers to listen to readings by Mary and Michael as well as the speech by Deputy Doherty, who formally launched the book.
The traditional and folk music group FIR CEOL travelled from north Antrim to provide musical entertainment and Maeve Convery from publisher Merrion Press came from Derry to MC the evening.
Galway West TD Mairead Farrell also made the journey to be in the audience. The line for signed copies stretched far and the evening was a great success.
On October 28, 1996 Glaswegian Michael was arrested in an armed dawn raid on the London flat he shared with long-time partner, Mary.
Accused of playing a role in the IRA mortar attack on Heathrow Airport in March 1994, Michael proclaimed his innocence as Mary threw herself into the battle to free him and tried to highlight what she saw as just another example of British ‘justice’ getting it wrong.
Told in the alternating voices of the two authors, the dramatic story unfolds with Michael struggling against the harsh conditions of incarceration, while Mary focuses on organising his legal defence, battling to stay positive in the face of soul-destroying setbacks and emotional hardships.
Yet behind it all lies a secret there is an unspoken secret that Michael dare not tell; his true role in the events that lead to his imprisonment.
Tense and emotional, with an electrifying twist, Unbroken is a gripping true story of faithfulness and deception, and a powerful reminder of the resilience of the human heart.
Michael and Mary will be signing copies of Unbroken at The Bookmark store at Letterkenny Shopping Centre from 12-2pm. on Saturday, July 19.