“A lovely writer, far superior to the average memoirist. . . . A curious mind, a perceptive observer with an artist’s eye, a seeker of truth and beauty.” —Irish Independent From the moment I crossed the mountain, I fell in love with the place, which was more beautiful than any I’d ever seen. And with a way of looking at life that was deeper, richer and wiser than any I’d known before. . . . From the first day I came here I always knew I’d come back. Sometimes we have to go back to our beginnings to become the person we want to be. More than a decade ago, USA Today–bestselling author Felicity Hayes-McCoy left the hectic pace of London and returned to her home country of Ireland to forge a new life in a remarkable house on the stunning Dingle peninsula. Gorgeously written, this is a life-affirming tale of rediscovering lost values and remembering the things that matter most. “Wise, funny and touching, this book is a portrait of friendships, customs and folklore of Ireland; but what stays with you is harder to catch, like smoke or running water. It is the taste of something we all once knew, ever-present if only you look for it.” ―Joanna Lumley, actress and author of Absolutely: A Memoir “The book glowed . . . when I finished reading, I felt a sense of well-being, wonder and delight.” —Alice Taylor, bestselling author of To School Through the Fields Praise for Felicity Hayes-McCoy “A pitch-perfect delight.” —Marian Keyes, international bestselling author of Grown Ups on The Transatlantic Book Club “The spot-on descriptions of Ireland’s country roads and expansive sky all but leap off the page. . . . Maeve Binchy and Patrick Taylor fans will find much to enjoy.” —Booklist on The Library at the Edge of the World “Sunshine on the page.” —Cathy Kelly, bestselling author of Between Sisters on The Month of Borrowed Dreams

'From the moment I crossed the mountain I fell in love. With the place, which was more beautiful than any place I'd ever seen. With the people I met there. And with a way of looking at life that was deeper, richer and wiser than any I'd known before. When I left I dreamt of clouds on the mountain. I kept going back.' We all lead very busy lives and sometimes it's hard to find the time to be the people we want to be. Twelve years ago Felicity Hayes-McCoy left the hectic pace of the city and returned to Ireland to make a new life in a remarkable house on the stunning Dingle peninsula. Beautifully written, this is a life-affirming tale of rediscovering lost values and being reminded of the things that really matter.

INSTANT INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER A beautiful tale of hope, courage, and sisterhood—inspired by the real House of Mercy and the girls confined there for daring to break the rules. Growing up in New York City in the 1910s, Luella and Effie Tildon realize that even as wealthy young women, their freedoms come with limits. But when the sisters discover a shocking secret about their father, Luella, the brazen elder sister, becomes emboldened to do as she pleases. Her rebellion comes with consequences, and one morning Luella is mysteriously gone. Effie suspects her father has sent Luella to the House of Mercy and hatches a plan to get herself committed to save her sister. But she made a miscalculation, and with no one to believe her story, Effie’s own escape seems impossible—unless she can trust an enigmatic girl named Mable. As their fates entwine, Mable and Effie must rely on their tenuous friendship to survive. Home for Unwanted Girls meets The Dollhouse in this atmospheric, heartwarming story that explores not only the historical House of Mercy, but the lives—and secrets—of the girls who stayed there. “Burdick has spun a cautionary tale of struggle and survival, love and family — and above all, the strength of the heart, no matter how broken.” — New York Times Book Review “Burdick reveals the perils of being a woman in 1913 and exposes the truths of their varying social circles.” — Chicago Tribune

An emigrant to England in the 1970s, Felicity Hayes-McCoy knew she'd return to Corca Dhuibhne, Ireland's Dingle peninsula, a place she had fallen in love with at seventeen. Now she and her husband have restored a stone house there, the focus for this chronicle in response to reader requests for an illustrated sequel to her memoir, The House on an Irish Hillside. Enough Is Plenty celebrates the seasonal rhythms in and around the author's house and garden at the western end of Ireland's Dingle Peninsula. It is about ordinary small pleasures, such as the smell of freshly baked soda bread, that can easily go unnoticed, and offers recipes from Felicity's kitchen and information on organic food production and gardening. It views the year from a place where a vibrant 21st-century lifestyle is still marked by Ireland's Celtic past and the ancient rhythms of Samhain (winter), Imbolc (spring), Bealtaine (summer) and Lughnasa (autumn). In this way of life, health and happiness are rooted in awareness of nature and the environment, and nourishment comes from music, friendship and storytelling as well as from good food. * Foreword by Alice Taylor * Also by this author: A Woven Silence

'From the moment I crossed the mountain I fell in love. With the place, which was more beautiful than any place I'd ever seen. With the people I met there. And with a way of looking at life that was deeper, richer and wiser than any I'd known before. When I left I dreamt of clouds on the mountain. I kept going back.'We all lead very busy lives and sometimes it's hard to find the time to be the people we want to be. Twelve years ago Felicity Hayes-McCoy left the hectic pace of the city and returned to Ireland to make a new life in a remarkable house on the stunning Dingle peninsula."--Back cover.

How do we know that what we remember is the truth? Inspired by the story of her relative Marion Stokes, one of three women who raised the tricolour over Enniscorthy in Easter Week 1916, Felicity Hayes-McCoy explores the consequences for all of us when memories are manipulated or obliterated, intentionally or by chance. In the power struggle after the Easter Rising, involving, among others, Michael Collins and Eamon de Valera, the ideals for which Marion and her companions fought were eroded, resulting in an Ireland marked by chauvinism, isolationism and secrecy. By mapping her own family stories onto the history of the State, Felicity examines how Irish life today has been affected by the censorship and mixed messages of the past. Absorbing, entertaining and touching, her story moves from Washerwoman's Hill in Dublin to London and back again, spans two world wars, a revolution, a civil war and the development of a republic, and culminates in Ireland's 2015 same-sex marriage referendum. • Also by this author: Enough is Plenty

There is a large floor of broken boards, covered here and there with bit and pieces of broken linoleum. I cannot see the walls or what's above them, but there is a woman at a fire who keeps looking at me, and a man on a chair reading a paper, who keeps looking at me.' Born in a fourth-floor tenement, the youngest of twelve, Liam was the son of a Dublin Fusilier and a flaxmill worker. Although half his siblings were dead before he was born, he does not 'look back in anger' but at people's tough resolve not to be bitter about life's lot and see the next generation through to better times. Set in the territory of Frank O'Connor on Cork's north side, this is not another sorry tale of childhook poverty. It is a memoir of courage and endurance, telling an often uproarious and always poignant story. Alive with the yowling of cats and scurrying of rats, the ghosts of Blarney and Shandon Street appear – ex-soldiers, money lenders, fruit-sellers and women overwhelmed by children, drink and galloping consumption. For some it ended with their head in a gas oven or with long tresses floating through the weir grass on the quiet waters of the River Lee. 'A black cat in the window' - was it a sign of luck? With six alive at least there was a chance. Despite the taboos of a strict time there was still some sex in a damp climate, some great heroes and heroines, and a bicycle in the hallway was a sure sign of upward mobility.