We Were Rich and We Didn't Know It: A Memoir of My Irish Boyhood

We Were Rich and We Didnt Know It is a memoir of growing up in Ireland in the 1940s by Tom Phelan, who describes his childhood working with his father on a farm and the struggles of small farmers during that time.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 224 pages
Publication date: 19 March 2020
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

“You don’t have to be Irish to cherish this literary gift—just being human and curious and from a family will suffice.” —Malachy McCourt, New York Times bestselling author of A Monk Swimming In the tradition of Frank McCourts Angela's Ashes and Alice Taylor's To School Through the Fields, Tom Phelans We Were Rich and We Didn't Know It is a heartfelt and masterfully written memoir of growing up in Ireland in the 1940s. Tom Phelan, who was born and raised in County Laois in the Irish midlands, spent his formative years working with his wise and demanding father as he sought to wrest a livelihood from a farm that was often wet, muddy, and back-breaking. It was a time before rural electrification, the telephone, and indoor plumbing; a time when the main modes of travel were bicycle and animal cart; a time when small farmers struggled to survive and turkey eggs were hatched in the kitchen cupboard; a time when the Church exerted enormous control over Ireland. We Were Rich and We Didn't Know It recounts Tom's upbringing in an isolated, rural community from the day he was delivered by the local midwife. With tears and laughter, it speaks to the strength of the human spirit in the face of life's adversities.

Weight: 204g
Dimension: 209 x 135 x 15 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781501197109