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Asenath Nicholson, a native of Vermont, had for some years run a boarding-house in New York and, in that city, she had become all too familiar with the plight of the poor immigrant Irish. Her first journey to Ireland was inspired by a desire to see for herself the conditions that were causing such a mass exodus. She was teetotal, vegan, anti-slavery and feminist in outlook, but above all an extremely pious woman, who toured the country distributing religious tracts and bibles to the poor. She also had a propensity for impromptu outbursts of hymn-singing which, to her amusement, only added to a notion among the Irish peasantry that she was "crack'd". Here was an intelligent, forceful woman who, with a burning sense of justice and righteous anger, was not afraid to speak her mind, and issued rebukes to those, irrespective of rank or religion, whom she felt fell short of Christian principles and duty.

The combination of the author's ability to write a good narrative, her own personality, and the subject matter that she wrote on, makes this book a gem among gems. It is naturally replete with pathos, but is not without moments of humour too. Sometimes the humour comes deliberately from Mrs Nicholson's pen but, on other occasions, the reader will laugh from the perspective of the subjects of her study at this extraordinary woman, the 'American Stranger'.

A final point is that although the author did travel north, her account confines itself to the more southerly counties:

"Should I ever reach home, I hope to give a fuller detail of my tour, which embraced all but the county of Cavan. I have made no mention of the north of Ireland, for want of room, but cannot close without saying that in Belfast I spent a few pleasant weeks."

This new edition has had the text completely reset and a few obvious spelling mistakes corrected. Notes have been added to those of the author's, with a view to aiding the reader who is perhaps not so familiar with Irish history and social history. Most of the phonetic transcriptions of English word pronunciations should still be easily decipherable, but a few of the less obvious have been annotated. An index has also been added for easier reference, although some repetitive themes throughout the book, such as descriptions of diet and cabin interiors, have been judiciously excluded.

Asenath Nicholson's account of her second tour of Ireland Annals of the Famine in Ireland, in 1847, 1848, and 1849 is also available, ISBN 978-1910375631

The author, Asenath Nicholson, was a native of Vermont in the United States. She had previously travelled through Ireland in 1844–45 and graphically described the condition of the Irish poor at that time in her book Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger. She was a teetotaller and a vegan, with a decidedly feminist outlook; she was also ardently anti-slavery and pro animal rights; but first and foremost she was a Christian woman of great piety and all her opinions and actions were coloured by her sincerely-held religious beliefs. When occasion demanded it, Mrs. Nicholson didn’t pull her verbal punches, and those who fell short of her ideal of Christian charity were in grave danger of receiving the sharp edge of her tongue. In the Annals she provides her frank and forthright assessment of government, landlords, relieving officers, and clergy of all denominations. Perhaps not surprisingly, she concludes that indifference, incompetence, mismanagement and corruption among those with influence were all contributing factors to the catastrophe, and suggests that the potato blight in itself need not have led to such widespread starvation and misery.

Here also we receive a valuable insight into the practical realities associated with the famine years—how the dead were disposed of, how the poorhouses operated, the consequences of eviction, proselytism, the inadequacies of Indian meal and 'black bread' as a substitute staple diet, etc. The picture painted is a truly harrowing one, with many scenes of despair and degradation. And it wasn’t only the very poorest at the outbreak of the famine who suffered. Not a few died labouring on their behalf, while others living in relative comfort lost everything in trying to meet the rising taxes that funded such institutions as the poorhouse in which they themselves often ended up. Some, of course, selfishly profited from the tragic situation, and the more unscrupulous landlords took the opportunity to divest their estates of tenantry who no longer had the means with which to pay the rent. Mass emigration, largely to America, was the consequence of it all.

This new edition, with reset text, has had footnotes and an index added for ease of reference. The 'prequel' and companion volume to this book, Ireland's Welcome to the Stranger is also available (ISBN 978-1-910375-62-4).

The author was evidently a man of reasonable means and good education. He had his own berth and dined with the ship’s captain and his wife. However, although Robert Whyte did not have to suffer the same deprivation and misery as his compatriots in the hold, his view of the many dreadful events that befell them is seen through a lens of religious compassion and social conscience, and his diary is nevertheless invaluable eyewitness testimony to the hardship and tragedy experienced on board an Irish ‘famine ship’ in the mid-Nineteenth Century.

In this substantial volume, the reader will find a sobering description of the fever sheds in the Canadian quarantine quarters of Grosse Isle, details of the heartless ruses employed by rogues to cheat newly-arrived immigrants out of what little they had, a graphic picture of slum life in the tenements of New York, portraits of life for the Irish in the countryside and in the towns, recollections of Irishmen who had fought in the American Civil War, and an account of the progress of the Catholic church in the New World.

In this new, carefully proofed edition, a number of footnotes have been added to those of the author and an 18 page index provided (paperback version only) to supplement the contents and chapter summaries.

The book comprises pertinent chapters from W. Steuart Trench’s The Realities of Irish Life, articles from the Adelaide Observer in July, 1847, a Narrative of a Journey from Oxford to Skibbereen (1847) by Lord Dufferin and The Hon. G. F. Boyle, Sketches in the West of Ireland (1847) by the Illustrated London News correspondent James Mahony, reports to the Central Relief Committee of the Society of Friends, and a chapter from Annals of the Famine in Ireland by Asenath Nicholson, a determined American lady who came to aid in the relief effort.

‘The hunger is upon us’ was the cry that two of the reporters for the Central Relief Committee heard constantly as they travelled the country to discover the condition of the Irish poor.

The book is complete with index for ease of reference.

The book is essentially divided into two parts: the first contains 1660 biographical entries relating to the defenders of Derry and the second has 352 on the Jacobite side, although some merely record the name and regiment or the name alone. Young was a proud Ulsterman and Unionist, but was nevertheless quick to acknowledgement the gallantry of the Irish who fought on the side of King James:

“Though foiled at Derry and beaten at the Boyne (where a gallant Irishman is said to have exclaimed “Change Kings and we’ll fight you again!”), they fought desperately on at Athlone and Aughrim to the walls of Limerick, where they again and again proved the worth of an Irish soldier. There can to-day be nothing but sympathy and admiration for the thousands of Irishmen who, after Limerick, rather than accept extinction in their own land, elected to become exiles and serve in the armies of Spain and France, where the Irish Brigades in many a hard-fought battle proved themselves second to none, while their officers, in many cases, served with such distinction as to found families once ranking among the grandees of Spain, or high in the nobility of other continental countries.”

Apart from individual accounts of eminent protagonists in the siege, such as David Cairnes, Rev. George Walker, the Duke of Schomberg, Patrick Sarsfield, etc., and the not so eminent too, there is also background given to many of the most influential families involved in the conflict.

This new edition provides a short biographical sketch of the author and has been enhanced with illustrations. The index has also been revised and substantially extended.

See also The Actions of the Enniskillen-men (ISBN: 978-1910375068) by Andrew Hamilton which gives an account of the attempted relief of Derry in 1689.

"Whatever questions be raised as to the controlling heredity in particular cases there can be no question that there is a distinct Scotch-Irish type of frame and physiognomy. It is well known and easily recognized. The long chin gives a characteristic square effect to the lower part of the face. One may notice it in the pictures of Woodrow Wilson as in the pictures of Andrew Jackson. And the race character is as persistent as the physical type. Professor [James] Heron's description of the distinguishing characteristics of the Ulster Scots is applicable also to their kinsmen, the Scotch-Irish in America:

An economy and even parsimony of words, which does not always betoken a poverty of ideas; an insuperable dislike to wear his heart upon his sleeve, or make a display of the deeper and more tender feelings of his nature; a quiet and undemonstrative deportment which may have great firmness and determination behind it; a dour exterior which may cover a really genial disposition and kindly heart; much caution, wariness and reserve, but a decision, energy of character, and tenacity of purpose, which, as in the case of Enoch Arden, 'hold his will and bear it through'; a very decided practical faculty which has an eye on the main chance, but which may co-exist with a deep-lying fund of sentiment; a capacity for hard work and close application to business, which, with thrift and patient persistence, is apt to bear fruit in considerable success; in short, a reserve of strength, self-reliance, courage and endurance, which, when an emergency demands (as behind the Walls of Derry), may surprise the world.

The activity and influence of that race have a securely established importance among the factors of American history."

Henry Jones Ford (1851–1925), was a professor of politics at Princeton University. He wrote a number of books on the political and constitutional history of the United States, as well as a biographical study of his friend, Woodrow Wilson, who was of Scotch-Irish descent.

This new edition, with reset text and revised index, includes a biographical note on the author. The cover image is from the painting Climbing the Western Slope by the American historical artist H. David Wright.

The Introduction provides a very informative background to the subject of St. Patrick and his times, as well as to the individual works included in the book, i.e. the Confessio, the Epistle to Coroticus, St. Patrick’s Hymn and Secundinus’s Hymn – those in Olden’s opinion that have the greatest claim to authenticity when it comes to providing details of the life and nature of the saint.

From the Preface:

“Of the two letters of St. Patrick contained in this work the Confessio was translated and published by the editor in the year 1853, and thus, for the first time, placed within the reach of the general public. In now bringing out a new edition of it, he has been induced to include the letter to Coroticus and the Irish Hymn, which comprise the remaining works of St. Patrick now extant: it seemed also desirable to add the Poem of Secundinus, the nephew and companion of St. Patrick, which contains a most interesting description of him as a missionary.”

Rev. Thomas Olden (1823–1900) was a Church of Ireland clergyman and Vicar of Ballyclough, near Mallow, County Cork.

This second edition has been enhanced with photographs relating to St. Patrick, taken at the church at Saul, County Down, and at Down Cathedral where the saint is reputed to be buried.

Rev. Fleming was born in Tramore, County Waterford, Ireland, in 1844. He was the author of a number of books, including A Complete Calendar of English Saints and Martyrs (1902) and The Life of St. Patrick, Apostle of Ireland (1905). He also produced an undated booklet entitled St. Patrick’s Birthplace: A Summary of Proofs that the Apostle of Ireland was a Native of Boulogne-sur-Mer, France (Books Ulster, 2020, ISBN 978-1-910375-67-9) He died in London in 1921.

Six Months in a Convent, published in the previous year to Awful Disclosures, although less lurid in content, was also a source of great controversy. Reed depicted the harsh discipline and practice of deceit in an Ursuline convent on Mount Benedict, Charlestown, Massachusetts, from which she eventually made an escape. The accusations made against the Superior and clergy were flatly denied in her case too, but the controversy refused to die. Some held Reed at least partly responsible for the convent being attacked and burned down by a mob.

In addition to the texts of both books is much further material, including extracts from public journals relating to Maria Monk, additional information on what happened after her alleged escape, the case in her favour, and testimony of others in confirmation of her claims. There is also a supplement to Rebecca Reed’s account.

Among the refutations of Awful Disclosures was The True History of Maria Monk (ISBN: 978-1910375563), first published by the Catholic Truth Society in the late 19th Century.

The enigmatic bookseller, for so long in self-imposed isolation from the rest of humanity, at first finds companionship from an unexpected quarter: “Truelove neither liked nor disliked cats. He had no experience of them on which to form an opinion one way or the other. They were, in fact, really a matter of complete indifference to him. However, although I think it is safe to say that he was not a particularly sentimental man, the bookseller would see neither man nor beast go hungry, and it wasn’t difficult to deduce that this small beast was in want of food.” Truelove’s Journal is a heart-rending story of life, love, and the passion for books.