Bibeanna

Twenty women from the Dingle Gaeltacht reflect on their lives and the changes they have witnessed from childhood to the present day. Their accounts are intimate, recalling their personal lives but their memories and experiences extend beyond the personal. Collectively, they provide a commentary on the changing face of Ireland. These women, who are familiar with the hedge schools and the famine from the first hand accounts of their grandparents, now connect with their grandchildren on their mobile phones. In their youth, healing relied on the use of herbs and such traditional healers as the bonesetter; today they have medical centres and home help. They have seen the arrival of radio, television, flush toilets, and the page-three pin-up: new-found affluence and political, clerical, and local scandals. They have taken much in their stride, and their vitality and resourcefulness continue to glow.

The book is bilingual. The Irish script sits alongside the English translation.