FROM DONEGAL TO THE KLONDIKE – A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME

Donegal author Michael McMonagle brings the reader on an epic journey across America in his new book which is to be launched at An tSean Bheairic, Falcarragh on Friday evening.

Inspired by the adventures of nineteenth-century Irish emigrant to America, Micí Mac Gabhann, who detailed his exploits in the book,Rotha Mór an tSaoil, Michael McMonagle travels across the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains of Montana, and the vast Alaskan wilderness giving his insights into two very different eras in America.

A seasonal labourer, Mac Gabhann worked on farms in ‘The Laggan’ and Scotland before emigrating to the United States to seek his fortune in the Klondike Gold Rush, however, unlike many of his contemporaries, he returned to Ireland.

Footprints Across America by Michael McMonagle weaves the two journeys together and highlights the strong links between both eras.

The reader is brought to historic places like Butte and Dawson City, mining ghost towns, Native American reservations, ranch houses and isolated Alaskan villages.

The author drags the reader up mountains and down rivers. In these out-of-the-way places, the voices of cowboys, shamans, exotic dancers, soldiers, chancer miners and Native Americans emerge to paint an insightful picture of life in America today, while the author also paints a compelling picture of the life of an emigrant caught up in the excitement of the Gold Rush.

Special guests at the launch include Noel Ó Gallchóir, Aogán Ó Fearghail, President-elect of the GAA, and Cathal Mac Suibhne (ex regional manager with Údarás na Gaeltachta) who will give a lecture on “Teach Mhicí Mhic Gabhainn” .