In this book, award-winning photographer James Fennell and bestselling author Turtle Bunbury journey the length and breadth of Ireland to bring us an extraordinary, powerful collection of poignant interviews from ordinary men and women who share with us their memories, providing us with an invaluable link to the past. Through words and stunningly evocative photographs, we meet the people of Ireland who lived through adversity and hardship during the formative decades of independent Ireland, yet whose courage, kindness and humour remain intact. We talk with those who watched friends and family sail for foreign shores, and lose ourselves in a world where life was simpler, yet somehow happier; where storytelling, fiddle-playing, céilís and communal pastimes cemented the deep friendships that became the lifeblood of each community. As stories are shared beside the warmth of a fire in farmhouses in Kerry and Clare; in the turf sheds of Limerick and Tipperary; over cups of tea and glasses of whiskey in the kitchens of Wexford, Sligo and Dublin; in the cobbled yards of Wicklow and Tipperary; in the shadow of the hills of Leitrim and Donegal; on the pavements of Dublin City; and against the sound of crashing waves on the coast of Galway, we meet the people who have lived through times of change as the past comes alive through their words. Blacksmiths, saddlers, harness makers and coal miners, mattress makers, factory workers, bonesetters and cattle drivers, all are gathered here as we are afforded a glimpse of the inimitable spirit of the people of this country.The world continues to change but, gathered within these pages, are stories and to be cherished, to keep the past alive long into the future.