Trinity Comments: Barb (Sheila's Mom)

OK. Wait til you get around p. 80.  It is so sad and hard to read that I hope it gets better.  What year would your grandfather have come to the US?

Here's an email from Bev (my aunt and the grandfather from Ballyshannon's daughter) I got before our trip that gave me a little background:

John Francis Burke was born on September 21, 1895 and came to the US on May 15, 1915.  He became a Naturalized citizen on December 8, 1919.

It is my understanding that he left Ireland on the brink of WWI because he did not want to "fight for the Crown".  I also believe if a man volunteered into the Armed Services, he automatically became a US citizen.  This may or may not be true but it is something I've always heard.

Since I am reading this in paperback our pages probably don't match up.  I also don't have that great map in mine.

When I read I just seem to get stunned by quotations which is great even if I'm not deeply understanding all the history.

On p. 86 "He whispered with obvious pain. Eighteen and forty-six was the year God abandoned Ireland. "

The ending paragraph in the middle of p.89.    "This was the opening round of the most penetrating of all Irish tragedies, the export of her greatest resource, her people."