Books by Pat Kelly

The author, who hails from Scotland, spent many hours listening to her mother-in-law recount, in vivid detail, memories of her childhood days in the tiny village of Patrick, in the Isle of Man, during the First World War. As Lou talked, the author realised she was listening to history, a lot of which no one else could tell, and that if Lou were to die, all that history would be lost forever. So she wrote it all down and turned it into Hedge of Thorns.In those days the village was dwarfed by the huge internment camp at Knockaloe, created for the accommodation of thousands of men classed as enemy aliens. Men whose only crimes were to have German, Austrian or Turkish origins.Hedge of Thorns is a true account of the impact that the Great War and the monster of Knockaloe camp had on the lives of a Manx family which still followed the traditional crofting way of life. It is a most moving and memorable story of the stresses and strains which shattered the peaceful existence of a family whose loved ones were caught up in the emergencies of war.Throughout Europe, during those dreadful war-torn years, millions of families were suffering similar deprivation, fear, loss and heartbreak.Millions died in most dreadful ways and millions more eventually returned home crippled in either body or mind. Or both!It was to be the war to end all wars, for no one could imagine such stupidity happening again but-!

The mighty water-wheel at Laxey mines in the Isle of Man has been set in motion. In its great shadow, Sarah and Patrick have fallen in love. It is a love that must be kept secret, for Patrick is Irish. Sarah’s mother — Judith — has lost her mind and blames an Irishman for her husband being imprisoned ‘across the water’ in Liverpool, where she can never visit him.The two young lovers desperately desire to wed and be together, but Judith’s increasing madness, which began when she lost some of her childer to a savage disease and deepened on her husband’s incarceration, proved too strong a pull.Sarah’s deep loyalty to her mother also stands between the lovers, indeed life itself thwarts their every effort to find a way toward their happiness.Patrick’s friend — Robert — is going to Australia to make his fortune mining for gold and has asked Patrick to accompany him. With no other option and seemingly with the cards stacked against them, Patrick and Sarah are both heartbroken.Knowing that her mother will never recover from her illness and will always need her support, Sarah tells Patrick he must go with Robert to make a life for himself without her, and to forget her, and the love they share.

The story of those who took trade unionism and working class politics to countries of the Scottish Diaspora, forming trade unions where they settled, often when membership could mean dismissal, eviction and deportation. Each chapter is a short history of a trade union or political party told through the biographies of the Scots who helped shape it.