Carrigallen author launches second title featuring Leitrim family back in the 20th century

‘Long Lost Leitrim Family: the Keegan & Lynch Families of Mullinadara’ book will be launched by the author Ciarán Mollahan on Sunday, May 5, at 7.30pm in the Cornmill Theatre, Carrigallen.

Ciarán’s second local history following ‘The Flight of the Bald Warrior,’ launched in 2010, comprises 116 colourful pages of history through words, restored photographs, historical documents and maps.

It tells the true story of a family from Leitrim at the turn of the 20th Century. It is a story of hardship, emigration, resilience, and the lives of ordinary people, set against the backdrop of world wars, British rule in Ireland, land ownership returning to the farming class, and Ireland’s evolution from gaining its independence.

The story features the lives of strong women who had to overcome adversity and minimal education standards to step-change the fate of their children while living during inequitable times.

The biography of eleven siblings born between 1897 and 1920 is detailed in the book with stories of infant mortality, trans-generational emigration to the US, a stay in a Mother’s Baby home and subsequent adoption, life in rural Ireland in the 20th Century.

It also includes some history of the townlands of Mullinadara and Miltron in Carrigallen and Aughavas parishes, respectively. Sadly, both family names have died out in the region, although some descendants and relatives live in the area.

The book also documents the story of Joseph Breen, the son of a Carrigallen emigrant to the US who went on to become one of the most powerful people in Hollywood in the Twentieth Century.

The book will be on sale for a special promotional price on the night of the launch and will be available to purchase online from buythebook.ie at https://www.buythebook.ie/product/long-lost-leitrim-family/.