Like many Irish families, we too have relatives in the USA. During my research for the book, I found more 'Breheny' relatives in Connecticut. But, during my political work in Dublin, I began to realise that there were many who were potentially adopted illegally to the USA, or were people who simply wanted to escape an Irish society that appeared to not want them.

 

They and their secrets are invisible.

 

In understanding the depth and scale of these injustices, I discovered that the subsequent Irish-American generations are now asking questions about their loved ones and of their own identity. We have much in common.

 

So, I invite you to join me on The Journey Home with my Magdalene Rose.

 

My book is a remarkable true story, flowing from the birth of a child, his marriage, and a wife who became the guardian of his secrets. We discover a mother, incarcerated without due process for 42 years, and a father who suffered loss and isolation. Love is forbidden.

 

A promise to find truth and justice reveals that incarceration, dogma, and indifference towards a vulnerable life, leads to the stunning realisation that a mother’s death is cheap, untruthful, and disrespectful.

 

The stories of four lives delivers love, betrayal, joy, tears, home and discovery of what it is to be human, to be Irish. It is a story of Ireland and of a Magdalene Rose and many women like her. It is the ultimate journey home.

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