COLD REIGN, 1846

In an island nation blessed by the warm waters of the gulf stream, the most severe winter in Ireland's history added to the misery, the suffering, starvation and death experienced by Ireland's peasant population. Their main food source, the "lumper" potato had been destroyed for the second year in a row. The poor, uneducated cottier people, some of whom spoke little English, could not cope with the cruelty of the landlords who did whatever they wanted with no intervention from London and Dublin. Unbelievable atrocities were committed by landlords who ruled with an iron fist. The poor perished from disease and starvation in conditions of snow, ice and wind that made the palm trees droop under the weight of what descended from the heavens. Cold Reign, 1846 offers a look at those who tried to survive themselves and to those who tried to help starving British citizens survive. The novel continues the saga of the O' Connell family, the challenges they face, the tragedy they encounter, and the new friendships developed as Flynn and Margaret attempt to shed past remembrances. Devon and Mary Margaret, the children, add a lighter side to the story. New characters add humor, conflict and every day the hunger, the starvation and death touches the lives of Killarney townspeople who did what they could to alleviate the suffering and death during that period the author refers to as "The Irish Holocaust." Cold Reign, 1846 is the author's second novel of Ireland that follows up on A Cold Rain In Killarney, 1845.