We are delighted that the English-language edition of Róise Rua is now available again. It can be purchased at the festival office for €15. Sincere thanks to Deb McCole and Georgina Dudgeon — and to Maeve Keaveny and the JJ Keaveny family for their dedication in bringing this book back to the community. We also wish to express our heartfelt thanks to Dee Collins of Mercier Press for their generous support of the festival.

Róise Rua was born in Donegal in 1879 and moved to the island of Arranmore off the Donegal coast at a young age. The fascinating story of her life was first recorded in Irish by Pádraig Ua Cnáimhsí.

In this evocative account of her life, Róise narrates her experiences of growing up, and recalls with great vividness the hiring fairs in Strabane, her teenage years working in the Lagan district, Derry and east Donegal, and her time spent ‘tattie-hoking’ on the potato farms of Scotland. She describes, in arresting detail, shipwrecks, secret societies, folklore from pre-Famine times, and her memories of Ireland during the two world wars.

In a story that reflects her vivacious personality, Róise’s recollections are a fascinating record of a way of life long forgotten.