Ah, Those Irish Colleens! - by Helen Walsh Folsom (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

While women in modern Western society have spent the last century fighting for equal rights, women in ancient Ireland were accorded legal equality with men. Under the Brehon Laws women had the right to own property, rule territories, seek an education, and sue for divorce. Celtic women were also warriors, frequently taking up arms and marching into battle with their brothers and husbands.

Review Quotes

Perhaps the unrestrained heritage of Irish women accounts for their passionate, fiery spirit. Inheriting more than fair skin and auburn tresses from their Celtic ancestors, indeed, Irish women descend from a long line of gaelic heroines whose love, fury, greed, and patriotism moved governments and changed history. Filled with true stories told in a fictional format, "Ah, Those Irish Colleens! presents the incredible lives of more than a dozen Irish women of prominence or fame, including: - Deirdre of the Sorrows, whom a druid predicted would grow into a beautiful woman but would be the cause of much strife among men.- Grace O'Malley the famous pirate, seafarer, and trader in the 1500s who even at an early age aspired to be a sailor.- Maire Rua O'Brien, Red Mary, known for both her red hair and her flaming temper, who, to save her beloved Lemanagh Castle, offered to marry one of Cromwell's officers after Cromwell's army had killed her husband. - Mary O'Connor, the servant girl who stole the heart of poet William Pembroke Mulchinock and was immortalized in his poem "The Rose of Tralee." - Kitty O'Shea, whose adulterous affair with Irish MP Charles Stewart Parnell, known as the "Uncrowned King," shocked proper society but is acknowledged as one of the greatest love stories of all time.These stories and more demonstrate the complex character of Irish women from the time of the Brehons to the present.