Overview

Martin Doyle, Books Editor of The Irish Times, offers a personal, intimate history of the Troubles seen through the microcosm of a single rural parish, his own, part of both the Linen Triangle – heartland of the North’s defining industry – and the Murder Triangle – the Badlands devastated by paramilitary violence. He lifts the veil of silence drawn over the horrors of the past, recording in heartrending detail the terrible toll the conflict took – more than twenty violent deaths in a few square miles – and the long tail of trauma it has left behind. Neighbours and classmates who lost loved ones in the conflict, survivors maimed in bomb attacks and victims of sectarianism, both Catholic and Protestant, entrust Doyle with their stories. Writing with a literary sensibility, he skillfully shows how the once dominant local linen industry serves as a metaphor for communal division but also for the solidarity that transcended the sectarian divide. To those who might ask why you would want to reopen old wounds, the answer might be that some wounds have never been allowed to heal.

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9781785375248

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Reviews

'This is an important, humane book, stunning in its sweep and power. It will prove to be a classic.'  -- The Irish Times ‘This is the finest memoir of the conflict I’ve ever read.’  -- Fergal Keane ‘Dirty Linen is shocking, riveting, and compassionate.’ -- Roddy Doyle ‘Brilliantly written, fully human, hard to read and harder to put down – everyone should read this book.’  -- Anne Enright ‘Sensitive and urgent, Dirty Linen is a must-read that gives readers a shocking insight into what lies beneath the surface of life and death in a conflict zone.’ -- Michelle Gallen ‘Doyle offers us a personal history of the Troubles that is as exacting as it is humane. An elegant, haunting book.’  -- Patrick Radden Keefe ‘All of us with Ulster family, and everyone who cares about Ireland, needs to read this fascinating, powerful, utterly moving book.’  -- Joseph O’Connor ‘Superb, a really important and moving work that brings the reality of the Troubles to life and restores the human tragedy to its proper place in public memory … a vital, potent and moving piece of work.’  -- Fintan O’Toole

Author Information

Martin Doyle is the Books Editor of The Irish Times. A former Editor of the Irish Post, he has worked in journalism for over three decades and is a regular contributor to the media and arts programming.

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