The Rat-Pitorder this book
Patrick MacGill
Price £16.00

"Penned with chilling realism, this heartrending transcript from life, with most of the characters being real people, traces the unequal battle of Donegal girl Norah Ryan against poverty at the turn of the century; it is the sequel to Patrick MacGill's great autobiographical novel Children of the Dead End that brought both glowing tributes and angry condemnation (in Ireland only) on the author when it was published in 1914...

"A moving story revealing the condition of the Irish poor nearly a century ago, written by an erudite author who himself fled the hand-to-mouth existence and with a number of fellow Irishmen migrated to Scotland and England to become an itinerant navvy." Michael Dromey, Cork Examiner.

"A restrained poetic vision which is overshadowed only by his passionate hatred of the gombeen men and the grasping Catholic clergy who people his pages." John Kelly, Sunday Press.

"Children of the Dead End and The Rat-Pit blaze with a passionate sincerity." Robert Greacen, Irish Press.

From Chapter 14, "Beyond the Water":

"A farmer with a bulbous nose and red whiskers met the squad on Rothesay pier. He wore a black jacket which, being too narrow round the shoulders, had split open half way down the back, a corduroy waistcoat, very tight trousers, patched at the knees and caked brown with clotted earth. This man was seated on the sideboard of a large waggon, removing the dirt from his clothes with a heavy, double-bladed clasp-knife.

"'Good-day,' said Micky's Jim, coming off the boat and stepping up to the man on the waggon.

"'Good-day,' answered the man without lifting his head or looking at the speaker.

"'Will ye take the waggon nearer the boat, or will we carry up the bundles to here?' asked Jim, blowing a puff of white smoke into the air.

"'Carry them up, of course,' said the farmer, still busy with his clasp-knife.

"Jim set his squad to work, and soon the waggon was loaded with bundles of clothes, frying-pans, tea-caddies, tins, bowls, and other articles necessary for the workers during the coming months. In addition to the stores taken from Ireland by the potato-diggers the merchant supplied them with blankets, an open stove, and a pot for boiling potatoes. It was now raining heavily; the drops splashed loudly on the streets, ran down the faces and soaked through the clothes of the workers. The rain struck heavily against the waggon; a hot steam rose from the withers of the cart-horse; the pier was almost deserted and everything looked lonesome and gloomy."

ISBN 0904573834. Paperback, 308 pages.

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