[Book Summary] Emigration seemed the only path to the future in 1962 when Marita O’Connell left Ireland for America with two bulging suitcases and $10 to finance her new life. Based on childhood diaries, Galloping Green: From Dear Distant Damp Dublin tells her engaging and humorous story of growing up with a mother whose family were British Protestants, and an Irish Catholic father with colorful republican ancestry. The second half shows Marita searching for a better life in America and recounts how her invincible spirit helped her to overcome numerous hurdles in her quest. Through example, Galloping Green shows readers that no matter what life presents, there is always another path “where the air will smell fresh and the sun will warm your face.”
