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A book that tells the story of courageous people with strong family values who persisted, against all odds, in the years prior to the birth of the Irish nation. In 1837 an Irish Catholic peasant laboured from dawn to dusk farming land owned by the Marquess of Ely. Trapped in a feudal system from which there was no escape Alec Power should have lived and died working these fields, be he escaped. Through strength of character, tenacity, and some luck, Alec gained admittance into the Irish Lightkeeping Service. The author brings alive the story of Alec and his wife, Maggie, who spent their lives in dangerous places on the coasts of Ireland, contending with nature at its wildest. Enduring incredibly rugged, dangerous conditions, surviving the Great Famine, this was truly life on the edge. Read about Alec's son, Thomas, who trained to be a lightkeeper, but was inexorably drawn to the most advanced technology and the most dynamic business of his times, the railway. He became part of the new Irish middle class, emerging just as the Irish people intensified their struggle to seek freedom and nationhood. "...[the] writing style is outstanding...mixing in large elements of Irish history, such as the Land wars and the strikes before World War 1... the style of the book flows exceptionally well...[the] re-creations of so many deaths were incredibly poignant and very moving." Peter Graves, Australia