The Blight and the Blarney by Rosemary J. Kind

Author:Rosemary J. Kind
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: historical fiction, historical, irish history, famine, 1800s, potato famine, 1800s ireland, set in ireland, kerry ireland
Publisher: Alfie Dog Limited

Michael spent many happy hours working with Daniel over the following weeks. From time to time Seamus joined them, but as often as not as he was absent. Much as Michael was frustrated with his wife’s brother, he could understand his disillusionment. Seamus had worked hard when he had his own land, and that had got him nowhere. For all of that, it was still unfair to be the one left to the work and the worrying. At best, the other man wagered and drank the day away to oblivion, and at worst, well, Michael didn’t want to think what scheming Seamus was still involved in. The less he knew the better, as far as he could see. That way he couldn’t be held accountable for what the man was doing.

The trees were starting to lose their grip on the cloak of summer and Michael realised that time was running short for getting the remaining potatoes out of the ground. The winters were mild enough, but that didn’t allow for idleness. Besides, the hungry times were as much a driver as any man needed not to sit by and do nothing.

The longer they worked together, the more songs Daniel joined in the singing of. His voice, though young, held a tune perfectly, and Michael felt incredibly proud of his son. Some days he would fall silent and let Daniel carry the tune, listening to the beauty of the child’s voice and wondering about the man he might become. He’d tried to teach his son well. He couldn’t teach him letters and other things he didn’t know himself. No, the lessons Michael Flynn taught had been in kindness and respect, in hard work and tolerance and, of course, the music. It was all he knew to teach, and he hoped it was enough. Daniel learned a little from the local schooling the church provided when there was chance to attend, but those times were few. Much as Michael wanted his son to do well, he didn’t have the means to send him for other schooling, even though he might have liked to. Those things weren’t for the likes of them.

“You’ll be away from these fields and using that voice one of these days.” He ruffled Daniel’s hair and wondered what the future held for a poor boy from the fields of Killarney. He and Eliza were at least happy, and he hoped that Daniel would be too.

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