Cynthia Owns is visiting the Blue Rose Writing Room today and sharing a bit about Keeper of the Light’s hero.
A Conversation with Cathal Donnelly
A Conversation with Cathal Donnelly
Cathal Donnelly, hero of Keeper of the Light (Book II of The Wild Geese Series), is a handsome, mercurial storyteller with a ready smile, immense charm, and brown eyes that burn with disturbing intensity. He’s loyal to his friends, a jack-of-all-trades who’s done everything from construction work to “singing for his supper” at Irish pubs all over America, and he’s passionate about the cause of Irish freedom.
Cathal came to America at age ten, one of thousands who crossed the sea in coffin ships fleeing famished Ireland, and it was on the Sally Malone that he and his twin brother met the friends who would stand by them for life. He smiles affectionately when he speaks of them. “They’re my brothers, as surely as me own brother Kieran,” he says of Shane MacDermott, Dary Greely and Declan Morrissey. “We played together, fought together, and marched off to fight for America together. We’ve shared joy and sorrow, good times and bad. Sure, the fairies blessed me with the friendship of these men.”
His smile fades, though, and his face darkens with bitterness as he speaks of leaving Ireland. “Sure, didn’t the English we force us to leave? Didn’t they starved us, didn’t they send the grain and the cattle and the pigs and the sheep across the water? England grew fat while Ireland starved. We had to leave or starve.”
His dark eyes fill with tears. “It fair tore the heart from me breast the day we set out for Queenstown Harbor. I stood at the door of our cottage for a long time, trying to memorize it all. The kettle on the hearth, the settle where Tim slept, the loft Kieran and I shared. I knew I’d never see it again. We set off on foot along the boreens…the little roads bordered with heather and gorse…and I tried to see it all, to hold it in my mind, knowing I’d never walk those roads again, smell the glory of the flowers, feel the soft mist on my skin.”
Pulling in a deep breath, he wipes a hand across his eyes. “America’s been good to me, but one day, Please God, Ireland will be free of the English yoke, and my children, or my children’s children, will see those green shores that still call to my soul.”
Like the Wild Geese of Old Ireland, five boys grew to manhood despite hunger, war, and the mean streets of New York…
She was everything he despised…but he didn’t know it
Cathal Donnelly washed up on the shores of an Atlantic island one stormy night, with no memory of who he was or why he was there. But is his lovely rescuer his salvation…or his doom?
She dreamed of a very different life
Laura Bainbridge has spent her entire life on tiny Turtle Island, but she dreams of a Season in London and a presentation to Queen Victoria. Can a handsome Irish stranger with a golden tongue and a disturbing past change her heart and convince her to stay?
As Cathal’s memory slowly returns, both he and Laura must come to grips with his painful past…and fight for a future free of hatred and loss.
Enjoy and Excerpt
Queenstown Harbor, Ireland, “Black ‘47”
“Cathal, lad, look at me. Look at me now, and tell me why ye’re here.”
Cathal Donnelly’s soul shrank as the priest grasped his chin between long, bony fingers and forced his reluctant gaze up to his face. Father O’Reilly’s black robe flapped and snapped in the chill spring wind that slashed Cathal’s own skin. The gulls screaming over the sea like banshees sent shivers down his spine. He caught his lower lip between his teeth, struggling to control his shameful tears. “We’re going to America, Father.”
“And do ye know why ye must go to America?”
“Because we’ve no food, Father.”
“Ah, now that’s where ye’re wrong, lad.” Father O’Reilly glanced over to where Cathal’s family huddled together on the shore with hundreds of other emaciated refugees waiting to board the Sally Malone. Then he knelt before the ten-year-old boy, his dark-blue eyes blazing, his hands biting into his flesh. “Ye must go to America because the English decided ye’ve no food, Cathal. England starved ye, abused ye, and when ye dared to cry out for help, she turned blind eyes and deaf ears. Where has all the grain gone? And the cattle and the pigs and the sheep? All gone to England.” The priest waved a bony hand toward the quay, where huge, many-masted ships filled with food and livestock waited to sail. “All of it sent over the water so England may grow fat while Ireland starves. Do ye realize that, Cathal Donnelly? Do ye, lad?”
“Aye, Father.” Cathal widened his eyes in awe, pride swelling his heart and puffing out his thin chest. No one had evertalked to him this way, as if he were grown up. As if he understood. He’d heard the whispers in the back room at Phelan’s pub, or when the men were digging the praties before they’d turned to black slime in the pit. But never had anyone told him why they must send their own food away. “I understand.”
“Remember it then, lad. Remember it all—the hunger, the evictions, the cruelty. Remember it, and tell yer children, and in time their children. Will ye do that for me, Cathal Donnelly?
“Aye, Father, I will.”
“The English drove ye from yer land.” Father O’Reilly’s voice shook with emotion. Tears sprang to his eyes and rolled down his cheeks, and Cathal’s heart twisted for the priest’s grief. “Don’t ever forget that, lad. Keep the memories alive, so that one day, please God, the wrongs done to our people will be righted.”
Blinded by tears that had nothing to do with the sharp salt wind blowing off the sea, Cathal clenched his fists, his soul crying out for justice. For vengeance.
“I promise, Father.”
Bio
I believe I was destined to be interested in history. One of my distant ancestors, Thomas Aubert, reportedly sailed up the St. Lawrence River to discover Canada some 26 years before Jacques Cartier’s 1534 voyage. Another relative was a 17thCentury “King’s Girl,” one of a group of young unmarried girls sent to New France (now the province of Quebec) as brides for the habitants (settlers) there.
My passion for reading made me long to write books like the ones I enjoyed, and I tried penning sequels to my favorite Nancy Drew mysteries. Later, fancying myself a female version of Andrew Lloyd Weber, I drafted a musical set in Paris during WWII.
A former journalist and lifelong Celtophile, I enjoyed a previous career as a reporter/editor for a small chain of community newspapers before returning to my first love, romantic fiction. My stories usually include an Irish setting, hero or heroine, and sometimes all three. I’m the author of The Claddagh Series, historical romances set in Ireland and beyond. The first three books in The Claddagh Series, In Sunshine or in Shadow, Coming Home, and Playing For Keeps, are all available from Highland Press. Deceptive Hearts and Keeper of the Light, the first two book in The Wild Geese Series, are also available now, and I have many more stories to tell!
I am a member of the Romance Writers of America, Hearts Through History Romance Writers, and Celtic Hearts Romance Writers. A lifelong resident of Montreal, Canada, I still live there with my own Celtic hero and our two teenaged children.
Connect with Cynthia
Website: http://authorcynthiaowens.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Cynwrites1
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Cynthia-Owens/e/B003DQ1V2E/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0
