This
novel by Arthur Hamill
is set in County Antrim
in the second half of
the eighteenth century.
It is based on the
author's research into
his own family who
shared the experiences
described.
Arthur
and Anthony Hamill are
the youngest sons of a
Presbyterian farming
family who lived in the
Bushmills area. They
both choose not to take
up farming. Andrew goes
to Belfast to learn the
linen trade.
Anthony
follows his mother's
religion and enters a
Catholic seminary but
later abandons this and
joins his
brother.
After
a tragedy at the mill
Anthony returns to the
land and begins faming
near Ballyclare. He and
his wife Margaret raise
a family and live
through the events of
conflict at the end of
the century.
This
well told tale includes
a wealth of historical
detail about life in our
area in the years that
led up to the rising of
1798.
Available
from
Amazon
