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Unsettled
Rosaleen McDonagh writes fearlessly about a diverse experience of being Irish. Unsettled explores racism, ableism, abuse and resistance as well as the bonds of community, family and friendship. As an Irish Traveller writing from a feminist perspective, McDonagh’s essays are rich and complex, raw and honest, and, above all else, uncompromising.
Praise for Unsettled
Don’t read this memoir in sorrow and outrage, read it because Rosaleen McDonagh is so proud, smart and ingenious, she will make you feel more properly alive. Beautifully written, this book beats back the darkness. It brings us all further on. — Anne Enright
Moving and eloquent, this collection is both the story of one woman’s life and a work of profound literary activism. — Emilie Pine
Rosaleen’s story is her story. It’s a very important story and she has a right to tell it. Rosaleen demonstrates, contrary to some settled people’s opinion, that our community is matriarchal, our mothers are so resourceful, and we are not victims. The book is a testimony to the importance of identity and belonging. — Anne Burke
Like James Baldwin before her, this work is a ferociously honest exploration of the intricacies of racism, identity, sexuality, disability, grief, sensuality and marginalisation. It is also a beautiful piece of prose; honest and difficult and deeply moving. This book sees Rosaleen McDonagh masterfully taking all the parts of her life and fitting them together brilliantly for us. A must read. — Mark O’Halloran
Emotive, honest and raw. Rosaleen McDonagh takes us on a journey of self acceptance, a journey that sees her face challenging obstacles and setbacks; as well as meeting friends and allies who help her to carve out a place in which she belongs. Unsettled is not only the recount of personal experiences but an authentic glimpse of Traveller life and culture as well as Rosaleen’s very sense of identity. — Michael Power
Praise for Unsettled
Don’t read this memoir in sorrow and outrage, read it because Rosaleen McDonagh is so proud, smart and ingenious, she will make you feel more properly alive. Beautifully written, this book beats back the darkness. It brings us all further on. — Anne Enright
Moving and eloquent, this collection is both the story of one woman’s life and a work of profound literary activism. — Emilie Pine
Rosaleen’s story is her story. It’s a very important story and she has a right to tell it. Rosaleen demonstrates, contrary to some settled people’s opinion, that our community is matriarchal, our mothers are so resourceful, and we are not victims. The book is a testimony to the importance of identity and belonging. — Anne Burke
Like James Baldwin before her, this work is a ferociously honest exploration of the intricacies of racism, identity, sexuality, disability, grief, sensuality and marginalisation. It is also a beautiful piece of prose; honest and difficult and deeply moving. This book sees Rosaleen McDonagh masterfully taking all the parts of her life and fitting them together brilliantly for us. A must read. — Mark O’Halloran
Emotive, honest and raw. Rosaleen McDonagh takes us on a journey of self acceptance, a journey that sees her face challenging obstacles and setbacks; as well as meeting friends and allies who help her to carve out a place in which she belongs. Unsettled is not only the recount of personal experiences but an authentic glimpse of Traveller life and culture as well as Rosaleen’s very sense of identity. — Michael Power
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First published September 9, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
August 17, 2022
I picked this up on a trip to Ireland - I don’t think it’s published in North America (yet?), and it’s a delight when travelling to pick up a book that one wouldn’t ordinarily come across, in this case about a topic and setting I know little about. When I took it to the till in the bookshop, the clerk’s eyes lit up, and she told me it was the best book she’d ever read. It was a good purchase!
It’s a slim but challenging volume of essays/memoir by a playwright and activist who grew up in a large Irish Traveller family. Born with cerebral palsy, Rosaleen McDonagh was institutionalized away from her family as a child, and abused. There are aspects to what she describes that remind me of the indigenous residential schools experience in Canada. Her disability meant that the traditional path for Traveller women, of early marriage and many children, was not open to her, and ultimately she was able to pursue a more unusual path of education, activism, and writing.
Moving and angering in turn, and also sometimes quite funny. McDonagh describes and vividly illustrates the discrimination faced by Travellers and disabled people, and the consequences of such discrimination and of abuse. She’s also lovely on the complexities of friendship. One especially poignant essay, “Caked On,” moves from exploring her taste in makeup to a heartbreaking discovery about what seems at first to be merely a quirky hang up. I’d like to read more about the cultural and political context that surrounds her writing, and am very glad to have come across it.
It’s a slim but challenging volume of essays/memoir by a playwright and activist who grew up in a large Irish Traveller family. Born with cerebral palsy, Rosaleen McDonagh was institutionalized away from her family as a child, and abused. There are aspects to what she describes that remind me of the indigenous residential schools experience in Canada. Her disability meant that the traditional path for Traveller women, of early marriage and many children, was not open to her, and ultimately she was able to pursue a more unusual path of education, activism, and writing.
Moving and angering in turn, and also sometimes quite funny. McDonagh describes and vividly illustrates the discrimination faced by Travellers and disabled people, and the consequences of such discrimination and of abuse. She’s also lovely on the complexities of friendship. One especially poignant essay, “Caked On,” moves from exploring her taste in makeup to a heartbreaking discovery about what seems at first to be merely a quirky hang up. I’d like to read more about the cultural and political context that surrounds her writing, and am very glad to have come across it.
July 13, 2021
I very rarely cry over books but this was one that got me there.
It's a memoir, yes — the life of a disabled Traveller woman navigating childhood, adolescence and womanhood. But, it's also an indictment of our ableist, racist, sexist society. There are moments of violence and horror and dehumanisation in this book that are only made more terrifying by the fact that they're true, and continue on to this day.
It takes a lot to write something like this, and it takes even more to have lived it. I would urge you without hesitation to read this.
It's a memoir, yes — the life of a disabled Traveller woman navigating childhood, adolescence and womanhood. But, it's also an indictment of our ableist, racist, sexist society. There are moments of violence and horror and dehumanisation in this book that are only made more terrifying by the fact that they're true, and continue on to this day.
It takes a lot to write something like this, and it takes even more to have lived it. I would urge you without hesitation to read this.
January 23, 2022
Rosaleen McDonagh is a playwright, a community activist, and educator. She was born into an Irish Traveler family of 15 children with cerebral palsy. This memoir shows her deep love for her family and community.Being a person with a disability, she has also been deeply involved in the fight for rights for people with disabilities. Her account is the story of someone who was marginalized in both communities - as a person with a disability in her among Travelers, and as a Traveler both in wider society and in the disability community.
Rosaleen McDonagh's surname is recognized as a Traveler family name. Sometimes when making reservations whether for accommodations or for a meal, she would give a different name. She learned that otherwise, she would often be turned away. Travelers were finally formally recognized as an ethnic minority in Ireland in 2017 (they also have this status in the UK). A formal Travelers movement was founded in 1990, and it was a long process to achieve this recognition, and legal protection. Irish Travelers, for the most part, live in caravans in encampments, with extended family. They refer to people who are not Travelers as Settled people. Various government schemes to move Travelers into housing, usually place a single family in housing away from other Travelers. These have not worked. The government saw the issue as a housing issue while ignoring the culture and community of Travelers.
As a child, Rosaleen was removed from her family and sent to a residential school for children with disabilities. This was a terrible experience for her. Her best friend, who she met in her twenties, was also a Traveler who was adopted out of her community. In chapters of various lengths, she describes the beauty esthetic of Traveler women, stigma, her long relationship with a fellow student, a wheelchair using man, politics, her body, and much more. She shares the language used to describe people with disabilities and the terms used for Travelers - none of which is acceptable.
Much of McDonagh's book deals with identity - figuring it out, and what it means for her. Her struggles for education resulted in her achieving not only an undergraduate degree from Trinity College Dublin, but two MPhils from the same college as well as a PhD from Northumbria University.
This is a remarkable and enlightening book. Highly recommended.
Rosaleen McDonagh's surname is recognized as a Traveler family name. Sometimes when making reservations whether for accommodations or for a meal, she would give a different name. She learned that otherwise, she would often be turned away. Travelers were finally formally recognized as an ethnic minority in Ireland in 2017 (they also have this status in the UK). A formal Travelers movement was founded in 1990, and it was a long process to achieve this recognition, and legal protection. Irish Travelers, for the most part, live in caravans in encampments, with extended family. They refer to people who are not Travelers as Settled people. Various government schemes to move Travelers into housing, usually place a single family in housing away from other Travelers. These have not worked. The government saw the issue as a housing issue while ignoring the culture and community of Travelers.
As a child, Rosaleen was removed from her family and sent to a residential school for children with disabilities. This was a terrible experience for her. Her best friend, who she met in her twenties, was also a Traveler who was adopted out of her community. In chapters of various lengths, she describes the beauty esthetic of Traveler women, stigma, her long relationship with a fellow student, a wheelchair using man, politics, her body, and much more. She shares the language used to describe people with disabilities and the terms used for Travelers - none of which is acceptable.
Much of McDonagh's book deals with identity - figuring it out, and what it means for her. Her struggles for education resulted in her achieving not only an undergraduate degree from Trinity College Dublin, but two MPhils from the same college as well as a PhD from Northumbria University.
This is a remarkable and enlightening book. Highly recommended.
February 12, 2024
it is definitely hard to read, as it is a reality shock. the experiences of disabled folk are invisibilised and ignored so often, and i feel that rosaleen mcdonagh is determined to end such silence and shame. it is raw and it can hurt, but it is definitely powerful and a must-read.
December 28, 2021
I picked this book up at a winter fair a view weeks ago, purely because the cover pulled me in. I had no idea what it was about until I started reading. This time judging a book by its cover worked out pretty well! This is a memoir, Rosaleen McDonagh is an Irish Traveller who was born with cerebral palsy. She tells us her story of struggling to fit in to both her traveller family and community and with settled people. Being sent away to a special school left her vulnerable and open to abuse and she talks openly of her experiences. This is an inspiring story of a woman who has been through and overcome so many barriers of inaccessibility whether that be down to her ethnicity, disability or gender. This book honestly discusses some of the most important issues and problems that have unfortunately rooted to deep into Irish culture, but McDonagh shows that pulling out these roots is not impossible and spends her life fighting the oppression she faces on a daily faces. Beautifully written, emotional and powerful read!
November 5, 2022
“Traveller rights gave me ambition. Women’s rights gave me ammunition. Disability rights gave me provocation.” Unsettled is a collection of essays about Rosaleen McDonagh’s experience growing up in Ireland as a Traveller and as a woman with cerebral palsy. Issues of identity and access are central to many of her essays and her writings about her experiences are profound and provide the reader with insight into all the ways that discrimination has played out in her life and relationships. McDonagh is a talented writer and her love and respect for her family and community are evident.
March 4, 2023
Very powerful story. I loved the writing style also. Would recommend to anyone who lives in Ireland long enough to call it “home”. Absolutely delighted to have read a book from intersectional feminism perspective: ethnicity, disability, gender, sexual identity — you’ll find takes on that and more.
November 5, 2021
I’m lucky enough to still follow some Irish bookstores and saw this memoir getting great reviews. I do hope this gets published in the US. It’s poignant and heart breaking and hopeful all at once. My emotions ran the gamut. I am still sitting here in my own thoughts and hope someone I know reads this so I can talk through it. I’m definitely sending it to some friends who are activists to share because people need representation and this book will speak to so many.
November 5, 2021
I do hope this book is published in the US. I was lucky enough to order a copy from an Irish bookstore I used to go to that ships overseas. This is poignant and heart breaking and hopeful all at once. I highly recommend it. I could write a much longer review, and I’m still sitting here in my thoughts after reading it. The primary thing is, this is an amazing work.
August 1, 2024
A series of essays marred by the author's repetition of stiff slogans and unimaginative political riffs from her activist background, this collection fares best in the particular (when the theory drops away). For example, McDonagh's recounting of a tattoo on her spine combines a keen awareness of physical and bodily geography with pointed feeling that is unforgettable.
McDonagh specifically invokes James Baldwin as her inspiration. She is no Baldwin. She simply doesn't have the gift for turning the particular into the universal. For example, she spends a great deal of time explaining why fashion appeals to her in particular but we never are directed to a lesson about what that attraction means more generally.
All that said, she is a tremendous witness to the plight of the traveler and the plight of women (and children) generally to the male aggressor, and to their resilience, which will make you weep.
A great effort that falls short, but deserves a reading.
This is a short and breezy collection
McDonagh specifically invokes James Baldwin as her inspiration. She is no Baldwin. She simply doesn't have the gift for turning the particular into the universal. For example, she spends a great deal of time explaining why fashion appeals to her in particular but we never are directed to a lesson about what that attraction means more generally.
All that said, she is a tremendous witness to the plight of the traveler and the plight of women (and children) generally to the male aggressor, and to their resilience, which will make you weep.
A great effort that falls short, but deserves a reading.
This is a short and breezy collection
April 12, 2023
Stories of Rosaleens life and her voice echoed around my head for days after I read this in a day. I wish I could say that everything she said was a surprising indictment of how people are treated by Irish society, but unfortunately I found myself saying “oh god of course” to the cruelties. Rosaleen’s voice is bright and friendly and honest, and she also has sprinkles of humour - that cheeky brave humour that traveller girls in school would have towards teachers - and like that her bravery is admirable and terrifying.
August 13, 2021
A woman who has overcome so many barriers of inaccessibility regarding her Traveller ethnicity, disability and gender has given readers an opportunity to gain an insight into these often painful experiences through beautiful essays and poems. This format makes the book so easily digestible and is the kind of book you can read again and again as these aren’t just stories but an exposure of deep cracks in our society.
January 16, 2022
It is a privilege to read this book which gives insight into the experiences of a woman who is a Traveller and has cerebral palsy, and grew up in the care of State institutions in Ireland. It was an eye opener to me and I'm blown away by the bravery of the author. It's enjoyable reading about her family life and friendships, identity politics and intersectionality. Loved the tone of the book - never wallowing, and very honest.
December 7, 2025
Completely candid and heart-wrenching, Unsettled by Rosaleen McDonagh made me laugh, cry and think about intersectional identity politics, ableism and activism in my own life and reminded me to always be curious and respectful about the experiences and identities of others. Not only are her stories impressive and raw, but she is a downright impressive human being, having overcome far more odds and disadvantages than I've ever had to think about. A fantastic read.
June 11, 2024
This is actually quite an intimate view into the author's mind. I love where she is coming from with this novel, it's just such an important and rich contribution to the world of literature and not only confronts people with a different lived reality but also expands understandings of empathy. and on a theoretical note is very interesting in terms of intersectionality as well.
August 19, 2021
Such an excellent book!!!
September 20, 2021
Amazing book. Really enjoyed it. Touches on important issues like prejudice, racism, ableism etc. in a way that makes you think about these issues in a different way. Highly recommend..
October 5, 2021
An incredibly vivid and emotional book. McDonagh should be essential reading for everyone in Ireland
November 12, 2021
This is the most beautiful book I've read in a long time. It's stunningly written ( and beautifully read too as I listened to it).
March 1, 2022
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October 25, 2022
Favorite book as of now. Stunning perspective and I can't believe it was such a fast read. Worth every moment and a must read in my opinion
December 11, 2023
heartbreaking
February 24, 2024
A must read for all Irish people
November 19, 2024
Made me quite sad
Read
December 15, 2024Really good
September 17, 2025
Audiobook
December 9, 2021
"Traveller rights gave me ambition. Women's rights gave me ammunition. Disability rights gave me provocation." This quote summarises the book perfectly.
Unsettled is a touching, unsettling, heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful memoir by a human who is thrice marginalised. Writer and academic Rosaleen McDonagh writes her memoir of life as an Irish Traveller woman with cerebral palsy with charm and humour. It is compelling storytelling throughout and feels like a cathartic chance for McDonagh to present an argument for equality that doesn't exclude. We can only hope.
Unsettled is a touching, unsettling, heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful memoir by a human who is thrice marginalised. Writer and academic Rosaleen McDonagh writes her memoir of life as an Irish Traveller woman with cerebral palsy with charm and humour. It is compelling storytelling throughout and feels like a cathartic chance for McDonagh to present an argument for equality that doesn't exclude. We can only hope.
February 6, 2023
3.5 stars
Very engaging and a quick read (which was amazing because I read it for college!!)
Very engaging and a quick read (which was amazing because I read it for college!!)
November 19, 2021
An absolute must read book to really gain an insight to the challenges faced by traveller people and the added challenge of being a traveller woman with a disability
January 1, 2024
Wasn’t prepared for the stark and brutal honesty of the life of a woman my age. She credits James Baldwin as the inspiration for her breathtaking ability to tell the truth of her story.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews