The Red Gate
An unexplained drowning...a muddy fall. The story begins with a rainy funeral in Dublin in 1912. A very traditional, Western Irish sheep raising family are harboring a secret holding them to their land and to an ancient promise. A chain of unexpected events, a dark discovery and an ancient secret all threaten their future. In the process of finding the truth, they must put aside personal failings and open up their lives to defend what is rightly theirs.
A devious plan hatched by a greedy academic, may soon reveal their secret to the world. This they must prevent at all cost. Through it all, their good humored manner of removing obstacles, both figurative and solid, reminds the reader that not all sources of strength are apparent. Despite loss and fear, they learn that help can come from sources seen and unseen and soon, they discover their place in the greater world.
Be sure to follow the O'Deirg family's adventures in The Gatekeepers, the sequel, published 2010
The Story Behind This Book
My first novel, TRG was inspired by my INdian Arts customers that stopped by our gallery and were looking for ancient spiritual connections with the earth through our handmade items. I wondered why a similar, ancient connection with a more elemental spirtituality might not exist through our European ancestry as well. Being half-Irish through my Grandmother, and having a keen interest in Celtic and pre-Celtic religious thinking, I created outcast shepherd Finn O'Deirg.
