Farewell Philadelphia

In April 1924, the 'Carmania' set sail from Cobh, Co. Cork bound for Philadelphia. Catherine Brennan was one of the many passengers on board, who hoped to make her fortune. Her life story unfolds at the age of 22 meeting the bold Maurice Fitzgerald on board ship - her 6 years living with the rich in Philadelphia and returning to the west of Ireland to seek a husband through a matchmaker. This novel tells of the ups and downs of rearing a large family through 50 years of marriage. It features the fascination and reality of matchmaking, written as was spoken, full of Irish wit and natural humour, in times when entertainment was free and kissing the opposite sex had to be confessed to a priest.

In 1965, Sally Staunton was left an orphan. Now married with a son, she desperately needs to know what happened to her parents. Reared by Catherine since she was four, all she was told was they died in tragic circumstances. It was a time shrouded in secrecy. Sally tries to get Catherine who now suffers from Alzheimers disease, to tell her life story before total senility takes over her beloved grandmother.