Join Liam O' Caiside as he gives you a peek back into his small, rural Irish community in the 1950s and 60s. See what school life was like for those children, particularly those from poorer backgrounds, and how it was something to be dreaded and endured, rather than enjoyed. But then see how the community was sustained by kinship, humour and music, and carried by the local eccentric characters who brightened up the grey days with their unique ways of life that are often unimaginable in our modern world. The scars due to what the village children endured are everlasting, but the fond memories of those neighbours and characters that enriched O'Caiside's childhood have helped overshadow the dread. They have sustained him, and through his telling, he hopes to pass on their memory as well as never forget those who suffered under the harsh rule of the Master.

Stories of growing up in an Irish village told with a "blend of history, tradition and humour". Siobhán Lincoln records the social history of Ardmore village in County Waterford, tales of school days, dances, fishing, work, language and tradition. This book will be of interest to anyone who wants a picture of life in rural Ireland from the late 19th century to the dawning of the Millennium. From the forword by Fergal Keane: "The past slips away from us quietly. We are too consumed with the drama of the present to notice the departure of old ways and traditions. In an age of economic growth without parallel in the history of the state, we are all urged to speed into a bright new future. The places we came from, the landscape of our past recedes and is in danger of being lost. And so when a remarkable book appears like that now offered by Siobhán Lincoln it is important that we pay it proper attention. It is said that every village in Ireland has a historian: I can't vouch for that but know that Ardmore is blessed to have a woman like Siobhán who is so passionate in the cause of saving memory for the coming generations."