Shamrock and White Rose

Forced by famine and the political climate to leave Ireland at the age of 14 and seek a new life in the industrial north of England, this is the true story of Michael Maloney. He vividly describes all that he experienced living amongst the poorest slums of Leeds in Yorkshire and working in the grime of the steelworks of that City. At other times he portrays the very different life on the farms near Ripon. He tells of the hostility and brutality encountered by Irish emigrants of the early eighteenth Century. A real life picture is drawn of the stark poverty and deprivation which was the lot of the poor of that generation. The narrative was written by Joseph White based on the life of his father which he had graphically described to him. Almost two centuries have passed since this tale was told and the unbelievable misery and poverty have passed with them. The story is not without humour and tribute is paid to those who extended a hand of friendship to the strangers in their midst.