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The Blight and the Blarney - Part 1 - The Story
Whatever it takes to stop your family from starving Is it time for the great Michael Flynn to take his family in search of a better life? The opening to The Tales of Flynn and Reilly - if you like historical fiction, then this is for you Ireland has suffered from potato blight since 1845. Friends and neighbours have died, been evicted or given up what little land they have in search of alms. Michael Flynn is one of the lucky ones. His landlord has offered support. Michael and his family have done all they can to help their immediate household, but as the famine and its aftermath continue, have their efforts been enough? With the weakening brought about by hunger, there are some things he is powerless to protect his family from. Is it time for the great Michael Flynn to take his family in search of a better life? Download now to find out
92 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 27, 2019
404 people are currently reading
179 people want to read
About the author
Rosemary J. Kind
27 books153 followersRosemary J Kind writes because she has to. You could take almost anything away from her except her pen and paper. Failing to stop after the book that everyone has in them, she has gone on to publish books in both non-fiction and fiction, the latter including novels, humour, short stories and poetry. She also regularly produces magazine articles in a number of areas and writes regularly for the dog press.
As a child she was desolate when at the age of 10 her then teacher would not believe that her poem based on ‘Stig in the Dump’ was her own work and she stopped writing poetry for several years as a result. She was persuaded to continue by the invitation to earn a little extra pocket money by ‘assisting’ others to produce the required poems for English homework!
Always one to spot an opportunity, she started school newspapers and went on to begin providing paid copy to her local newspaper at the age of 16.
For twenty years she followed a traditional business career, before seeing the error of her ways and leaving it all behind to pursue her writing full-time.
She spends her life discussing her plots with the characters in her head and her faithful dogs, who always put the opposing arguments when there are choices to be made.
Always willing to take on challenges that sensible people regard as impossible, she set up the short story download site Alfie Dog Fiction in 2012. During the six years the site ran, she built it to be one of the largest such sites in the world.
Her hobby is developing the Entlebucher Mountain Dog in the UK and when she brought her beloved Alfie back from Belgium he was only the tenth in the country.
She started writing Alfie’s Diary as an internet blog the day Alfie arrived to live with her, intending to continue for a year or two. It has now run for over fifteen years and is repeatedly named as one of the top ten pet blogs in the UK. You can read Alfie’s Diary at www.alfiedog.me.uk
She now lives in Warwickshire with her husband and dogs Alfie, Shadow, Wilma and Aristotle, the latter being Shadow’s wayward son.
She hopes you will enjoy reading her work.
As a child she was desolate when at the age of 10 her then teacher would not believe that her poem based on ‘Stig in the Dump’ was her own work and she stopped writing poetry for several years as a result. She was persuaded to continue by the invitation to earn a little extra pocket money by ‘assisting’ others to produce the required poems for English homework!
Always one to spot an opportunity, she started school newspapers and went on to begin providing paid copy to her local newspaper at the age of 16.
For twenty years she followed a traditional business career, before seeing the error of her ways and leaving it all behind to pursue her writing full-time.
She spends her life discussing her plots with the characters in her head and her faithful dogs, who always put the opposing arguments when there are choices to be made.
Always willing to take on challenges that sensible people regard as impossible, she set up the short story download site Alfie Dog Fiction in 2012. During the six years the site ran, she built it to be one of the largest such sites in the world.
Her hobby is developing the Entlebucher Mountain Dog in the UK and when she brought her beloved Alfie back from Belgium he was only the tenth in the country.
She started writing Alfie’s Diary as an internet blog the day Alfie arrived to live with her, intending to continue for a year or two. It has now run for over fifteen years and is repeatedly named as one of the top ten pet blogs in the UK. You can read Alfie’s Diary at www.alfiedog.me.uk
She now lives in Warwickshire with her husband and dogs Alfie, Shadow, Wilma and Aristotle, the latter being Shadow’s wayward son.
She hopes you will enjoy reading her work.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
December 4, 2021
I wish that I had reviewed this directly after finishing instead of waiting a week. This was so good! I'll list the things I liked and didn't like to make this go smoother.
>>>>What I liked<<<<
1) For starters, I really liked the time period songs/poems at the beginning of every chapter. Those were really a nice touch.
2) The characters (for the most part) were so easy to love and become engrossed in their lives. From Eliza's tender heart, Michael's hope for a better tomorrow, Seamus' stubbornness and thirst of justice, Daniel's child-like faith and Mr. O'Connor's compassion. All of them were unique and their own person. I never once had trouble telling the characters apart.
3) Historically speaking, I enjoyed being immersed in the years following the Great Potato Famine in Ireland. I've never personally researched this era but it seemed to be true and accurate.
4) Plot wise- wow! There was a lot of pain and suffering in this read. A family just wanting to survive against all odds and stay together. Not gonna lie, this was sad. Somber and heart-breaking. There were moments of triumph and good news but sadly, these moments were often shadowed by a coming storm. And knowing what book 2 holds...just makes me wanna cry...
5) The length was perfect and there was no language.
>>>>What I didn't like<<<<
1) I would have liked to have seen more of Ellen. *cries a little* Not really a dislike but a preference.
2) The beginning started a little slow for me but it really picked up and I was hooked.
Yeah, that's about all I didn't like. This book was really good, so good that it was hard to put down. It brought out all the feels and now I'm highly invested in this series. I already have book 2 (free download that sold me on purchasing this one) but have yet to start it.
All in all, highly recommend! If you enjoy a good, clean historical fiction about tragedy, hope and family definitely check this out! Full 5 stars
>>>>What I liked<<<<
1) For starters, I really liked the time period songs/poems at the beginning of every chapter. Those were really a nice touch.
2) The characters (for the most part) were so easy to love and become engrossed in their lives. From Eliza's tender heart, Michael's hope for a better tomorrow, Seamus' stubbornness and thirst of justice, Daniel's child-like faith and Mr. O'Connor's compassion. All of them were unique and their own person. I never once had trouble telling the characters apart.
3) Historically speaking, I enjoyed being immersed in the years following the Great Potato Famine in Ireland. I've never personally researched this era but it seemed to be true and accurate.
4) Plot wise- wow! There was a lot of pain and suffering in this read. A family just wanting to survive against all odds and stay together. Not gonna lie, this was sad. Somber and heart-breaking. There were moments of triumph and good news but sadly, these moments were often shadowed by a coming storm. And knowing what book 2 holds...just makes me wanna cry...
5) The length was perfect and there was no language.
>>>>What I didn't like<<<<
1) I would have liked to have seen more of Ellen. *cries a little* Not really a dislike but a preference.
2) The beginning started a little slow for me but it really picked up and I was hooked.
Yeah, that's about all I didn't like. This book was really good, so good that it was hard to put down. It brought out all the feels and now I'm highly invested in this series. I already have book 2 (free download that sold me on purchasing this one) but have yet to start it.
All in all, highly recommend! If you enjoy a good, clean historical fiction about tragedy, hope and family definitely check this out! Full 5 stars
February 16, 2019
loved it, a beautiful novella a family struggling to survive, the story finishes as they sail away to New York to seek their fortune, so looking forward now to reading New York Orphan Daniel's story
February 16, 2019
Loved it
What a beautiful Novella enjoyed all of this story and the characters fighting for survival. It finishes with the family sailing off for fortune in New York, the next book New York Orphan Daniel's story I will most certainly look forward to
What a beautiful Novella enjoyed all of this story and the characters fighting for survival. It finishes with the family sailing off for fortune in New York, the next book New York Orphan Daniel's story I will most certainly look forward to
December 10, 2021
Blight and The Blarney by Rosemary J. Kind is a detailed and heartbreaking novella about a family faced with poverty, starvation, and some very tough decisions during the Irish Potato Famine.
In 1852, the Flynn Family was impoverished and on the brink of starvation. Potatoes no longer grow well in Ireland because of a blight and the English government evicts several Irish tenants and are extremely slow in responding with aid. Family patriarch, Michael is milling an offer from his landlord (one of the few kind ones) to move himself and his family to America. Of course it means saying goodbye to everyone and everything that they ever knew so it's a giant step. Things get even more complicated when Michael's brother, brother in law, and their families get evicted turning a homestead with barely enough to feed four into an overcrowded house of twelve. It doesn't help that Michael's brother in law, Seamus, is getting fed up with the mistreatment and looking towards more politically active and violent means to fight against the English.
Even though The Blight and The Blarney is short, it packs quite an emotional punch. Enough of a punch that any longer and it would be overdone. The most heart wrenching moment occurs during the death of one of the central characters. The illness is long term so it's not a surprise when it happens. But the build up and loss are moving and tug at every emotional fiber that the Reader has.
The book is also good at showing different ways people react to difficult times without judgment or saying which way is the best way. Some like Michael opt for more peaceful resolutions like taking care of their family first and sometimes move on to another place. Others like Seamus fight against the circumstances that cause this misfortune and against those who profit off of it. Neither way is looked at as wrong or right and sometimes those choices lead to harder ones later on.
Unfortunately, the end of the novella suggests even more strife for the Flynn Family and the title of the next volume, New York Orphan, suggests there will be much more heartbreak and tougher choices to come.
In 1852, the Flynn Family was impoverished and on the brink of starvation. Potatoes no longer grow well in Ireland because of a blight and the English government evicts several Irish tenants and are extremely slow in responding with aid. Family patriarch, Michael is milling an offer from his landlord (one of the few kind ones) to move himself and his family to America. Of course it means saying goodbye to everyone and everything that they ever knew so it's a giant step. Things get even more complicated when Michael's brother, brother in law, and their families get evicted turning a homestead with barely enough to feed four into an overcrowded house of twelve. It doesn't help that Michael's brother in law, Seamus, is getting fed up with the mistreatment and looking towards more politically active and violent means to fight against the English.
Even though The Blight and The Blarney is short, it packs quite an emotional punch. Enough of a punch that any longer and it would be overdone. The most heart wrenching moment occurs during the death of one of the central characters. The illness is long term so it's not a surprise when it happens. But the build up and loss are moving and tug at every emotional fiber that the Reader has.
The book is also good at showing different ways people react to difficult times without judgment or saying which way is the best way. Some like Michael opt for more peaceful resolutions like taking care of their family first and sometimes move on to another place. Others like Seamus fight against the circumstances that cause this misfortune and against those who profit off of it. Neither way is looked at as wrong or right and sometimes those choices lead to harder ones later on.
Unfortunately, the end of the novella suggests even more strife for the Flynn Family and the title of the next volume, New York Orphan, suggests there will be much more heartbreak and tougher choices to come.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 21, 2024
After years of reader’s block, I was delighted by this realistic work of historical fiction that whet my appetite in 92 pages. The Blight and the Blarney covers The Hunger period of Ireland through the Flynn and Riley families. It is the first book of a four-book series and a wonderful taste of Irish character.
The warmth of the Flynn family contrasts the cold reality of nature’s wrath in the mid-1800s. Potato blight and the subsequent famine killed one million people.
Absentee landlordism and tens of thousands of evictions spawned a massive exodus and Rosemary J. Kind follows it up with New York Orphan, Unequal By Birth, and Justice Be Damned (all are Award Winners - set in America). Looking forward to reading more!
The warmth of the Flynn family contrasts the cold reality of nature’s wrath in the mid-1800s. Potato blight and the subsequent famine killed one million people.
Absentee landlordism and tens of thousands of evictions spawned a massive exodus and Rosemary J. Kind follows it up with New York Orphan, Unequal By Birth, and Justice Be Damned (all are Award Winners - set in America). Looking forward to reading more!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 23, 2023
I loved the story, which brought to life the hardships of those Irish families following the potato famine in the mid-years of the 19th century. The character were well drawn and I was drawn into their lives, both the happy times and the sad. I liked that each chapter had a verse of an Irish song at the start, which appeared to have some relevance to the rest of that chapter. I was left wanting to know more and will now go on to other books in the series.
March 17, 2024
Irish / Historical / Fiction
⭐⭐⭐/ 5
I thought it would be a good day to read a book with a bit of Irish history. (Today being St Patrick's day) This is a heartbreaking and inspirational tale. A story that follows Irish families following the potato famine. Their losses and the ultimate decision to come to America. I sit here and wonder about the struggles my ancestors went through. Proud I have some Irish in my blood today and always.
⭐⭐⭐/ 5
I thought it would be a good day to read a book with a bit of Irish history. (Today being St Patrick's day) This is a heartbreaking and inspirational tale. A story that follows Irish families following the potato famine. Their losses and the ultimate decision to come to America. I sit here and wonder about the struggles my ancestors went through. Proud I have some Irish in my blood today and always.
June 8, 2019
Get your hanky ready.
I enjoyed reading New York Orphan, and this 'prequel' is just as good. It's very emotional and incredibly sad in places – but that's unavoidable if the potato famine is to be written about in a believable way.
The characters are likeable and the story completely engaging – and it's not all bleak!
I enjoyed reading New York Orphan, and this 'prequel' is just as good. It's very emotional and incredibly sad in places – but that's unavoidable if the potato famine is to be written about in a believable way.
The characters are likeable and the story completely engaging – and it's not all bleak!
October 29, 2022
The Blight and the Blarney - Part 1
Rating 4
An emotional journey through the lives of the characters during the potato famine in Ireland. The absolute neglect of the landowners ensured the deaths of millions and forcing others to leave their precious homes and Ireland.
A good account told through the characters.
Rating 4
An emotional journey through the lives of the characters during the potato famine in Ireland. The absolute neglect of the landowners ensured the deaths of millions and forcing others to leave their precious homes and Ireland.
A good account told through the characters.
September 11, 2020
Step into the unknown
This is a new author for me and I found the book to be enjoyable and an easy read . I read it in an afternoon and I am looking forward to the next in the series.
This is a new author for me and I found the book to be enjoyable and an easy read . I read it in an afternoon and I am looking forward to the next in the series.
December 16, 2020
The Blight and the Blarney - Part 1
This is a great story of family during hard times in Ireland. As reading you feel that you are right there and can imagine the scenery. The hardships many of our own families have endured.
This is a great story of family during hard times in Ireland. As reading you feel that you are right there and can imagine the scenery. The hardships many of our own families have endured.
December 26, 2020
Review
I'm always very interested in Irish history because it is my history and I was looking for books like under the Hawthorne free and I stumbled into this book and I am very glad I did. This book touched my heart and I would recommend to a wide variety of people.
I'm always very interested in Irish history because it is my history and I was looking for books like under the Hawthorne free and I stumbled into this book and I am very glad I did. This book touched my heart and I would recommend to a wide variety of people.
March 21, 2021
Great book
This book was a joy to read. The characters' introductions and story plot drew me in. This book leaves me wanting to know where their journey leads. I plan to read the other 3 books in the series.
This book was a joy to read. The characters' introductions and story plot drew me in. This book leaves me wanting to know where their journey leads. I plan to read the other 3 books in the series.
March 29, 2021
Authentic and heart wrenching
This story plumbs the depth of the Irish struggle in Ireland. It details a familys challenge to make a living, the strength of family and faith. It also opens the path to America, a dream many perished while pursuing. A must read.
This story plumbs the depth of the Irish struggle in Ireland. It details a familys challenge to make a living, the strength of family and faith. It also opens the path to America, a dream many perished while pursuing. A must read.
July 31, 2021
Heartwarming
Author shares her vision of the landscape and people beautifully.
A wee bit stereotypical. Some greater depth would have helped
Can’t wait for the next book so “mission accomplished”
Author shares her vision of the landscape and people beautifully.
A wee bit stereotypical. Some greater depth would have helped
Can’t wait for the next book so “mission accomplished”
July 26, 2020
Potatoes starving
The life in Ireland was rough those days
It was a sad story. It was boring for quite a bit
The life in Ireland was rough those days
It was a sad story. It was boring for quite a bit
April 10, 2021
This is a very good book. The story is short but it is easy to read. It gives a good look into what life in Ireland during the potato famine was like.
July 10, 2021
Great book
I really enjoyed this book,I loved the history entwined in it,the characters were relatable ,I cant wait to read the next one
I really enjoyed this book,I loved the history entwined in it,the characters were relatable ,I cant wait to read the next one
July 16, 2021
Enjoyed the story though it was a little short - looking forward to reading the full set of books in this saga
July 21, 2021
What a great prequel! This may have been a short read, but it certainly was not lacking in character development or story. I can't wait to read the next book, New York Orphan.
July 22, 2021
Very good book
Good book,but super short more like a novella. I really enjoyed the characters and will be reading the second book.
Good book,but super short more like a novella. I really enjoyed the characters and will be reading the second book.
December 6, 2021
Good
A short little book that will touch your heart. I wanted the story to continue to learn more about this sweet family.
A short little book that will touch your heart. I wanted the story to continue to learn more about this sweet family.
December 25, 2021
I enjoyed reading it.
February 11, 2022
The Blight and the Blarney
This was an okay book. It was about life in Ireland and how rough it was. It was sad when Ellen died.
This was an okay book. It was about life in Ireland and how rough it was. It was sad when Ellen died.
May 12, 2022
Another amazing read
Felt like I was there, feeling the emotions the family
experienced.
Can't wait to read more of this author's books
Felt like I was there, feeling the emotions the family
experienced.
Can't wait to read more of this author's books
June 29, 2025
The Blight & The Blarney
A short & easy read about Ireland's country folk at the end⁸ of the Potato Famine. A small family sets out on a journey to the United States.
A short & easy read about Ireland's country folk at the end⁸ of the Potato Famine. A small family sets out on a journey to the United States.
January 7, 2025
I loved this novella, the story was both heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time. As someone who has ancestors that came to Scotland from Ireland to flee poverty, hunger and land reform it really resonated with me.
I waited until I had read the entire series before writing this review and I would thoroughly recommend the series. It’s not my usual genre of book but I’m so glad I departed from my usual to read this.
The story is beautifully written with wonderful characters in it.
I waited until I had read the entire series before writing this review and I would thoroughly recommend the series. It’s not my usual genre of book but I’m so glad I departed from my usual to read this.
The story is beautifully written with wonderful characters in it.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews