Martin Doyle Dirty Linen

€22.99

Limited Signed Copies Available!

Bestseller
Code 9781785374609


Add to Basket
Description

A personal, intimate history of the Troubles seen through the microcosm of a single rural parish, the author’s own, part of both the Linen Triangle – heartland of the North’s defining industry – and the Murder Triangle – the Badlands devastated by paramilitary violence.

Martin Doyle, Books Editor of The Irish Times, offers a personal, intimate history of the Troubles seen through the microcosm of a single rural parish, his own, part of both the Linen Triangle – heartland of the North’s defining industry – and the Murder Triangle – the Badlands devastated by paramilitary violence. He lifts the veil of silence drawn over the horrors of the past, recording in heartrending detail the terrible toll the conflict took – more than twenty violent deaths in a few square miles – and the long tail of trauma it has left behind.

Neighbours and classmates who lost loved ones in the conflict, survivors maimed in bomb attacks and victims of sectarianism, both Catholic and Protestant, entrust Doyle with their stories. Writing with a literary sensibility, he skillfully shows how the once dominant local linen industry serves as a metaphor for communal division but also for the solidarity that transcended the sectarian divide. To those who might ask why you would want to reopen old wounds, the answer might be that some wounds have never been allowed to heal.



About the Author

Martin Doyle is the Books Editor of The Irish Times. A former Editor of the Irish Post, he has worked in journalism for over three decades and is a regular contributor to the media and arts programming.

Delivery Info

We provide FREE delivery in the Republic of Ireland when you spend €49 or more. 

FREE Click & Collect from The Ennis Bookshop. You will not be charged for this service.  We are happy to arrange Delivery outside Ireland. Please e-mail us at enquiries@ennisbookshop.ie for more information. 

Find out more about our Delivery & Collection services

Returns Policy

We want you to be completely satisfied with your order and we would hope to resolve any problems you may have. If you are unhappy with your purchase, we will exchange or refund the item or issue a credit note, providing the goods are not damaged and all packaging is still intact.

Terms and conditions apply.

Please view our full Returns Policy for further information.

Click to view complete product details

Praise for Dirty Linen

Dirty Linen is a powerfully affecting read, an encapsulation of the terror, the trauma, the hatred, the injustice, the terrible sadness and loss. But there is also the bravery and courage, and the very human struggles in these stories of individuals living their everyday lives. It’s a kind and personal book, bringing it right down to the individual and hearing their voice and their truth. I underlined so much in it. The writing itself is wonderful, full of compassion and intelligence and revelation… facing up to the reality of pain and yet bearing hope as well.’ – Anna Burns

‘This is the finest memoir of the conflict I’ve ever read.’ – Fergal Keane

Dirty Linen is shocking, riveting, and compassionate.’ – Roddy Doyle

‘Brilliantly written, fully human, hard to read and harder to put down – everyone should read this book.’ – Anne Enright

‘Sensitive and urgent, Dirty Linen is a must-read that gives readers a shocking insight into what lies beneath the surface of life and death in a conflict zone.’ – Michelle Gallen

‘Doyle offers us a personal history of the Troubles that is as exacting as it is humane. An elegant, haunting book.’ – Patrick Radden Keefe

‘All of us with Ulster family, and everyone who cares about Ireland, needs to read this fascinating, powerful, utterly moving book.’ – Joseph O’Connor

‘Superb, a really important and moving work that brings the reality of the Troubles to life and restores the human tragedy to its proper place in public memory … a vital, potent and moving piece of work.’ – Fintan O’Toole

Dirty Linen is nothing short of superb.  How hard it must have been at times to write, but how important a book. – Wendy Erskine

Dirty Linen is an impeccably researched and incredibly moving hybrid memoir/social history of The Troubles in his home parish of Tullylish, Co. Down. Laden with devastating personal testimonies from neighbours who lost loved ones, this is an important book that commemorates the all too often anonymised victims of The Troubles.’ – Edel Coffey

‘…an extraordinary, beautifully written and vitally necessary intimate history of all the murders in a parish in Northern Ireland during the ‘Troubles’. Lost Lives for Tullylish, Co. Down.’ – Catriona Crowe

‘Martin Doyle’s moving conflict memoir, Dirty Linen, resonated powerfully with me’ – Conor O’Clery

‘Harrowing.’ – Roy Foster

‘This is an important, humane book, stunning in its sweep and power. It will prove to be a classic.’ – The Irish Times

Close

POP-IN HTML goes here

Close

Your Basket

Your basket is currently empty