Launch of 'Over the Rolling Waters I go'

Jean MacGrath-Beattie, right, with her sister Geraldine Gahan.

Last night's launch of 'Over the Rolling Waters I go' in Woodbine Books was another most congenial affair, writes Brian Byrne.

Our local Librarian Julie O'Donoghue did the launch honours for author Jean MacGrath-Beattie, describing it as beautifully written and a 'fine example of the female intrepid traveller' genre.

"This is something that happened in the 19th century when some women broke the rules and went off travelling around the world by themselves," she noted.

The author, who is the sister of local resident Geraldine Gahan, has set out to follow as closely as possible the voyages of her father a hundred years ago, as a radio operator on cargo ships.

"To me it seemed like a pilgrimage, to honour her father's sacrifice and her father's journey, and I think that was an extremely admirable thing to do," Julie said.

Jean MacGrath's book narrates her own journeys in mostly cargo ships on her quest, writing in parallel relevant extracts from Maurice MacGrath's own writings about his voyages. He served twice on ships that were torpedoed, and in the end was taken as a POW by a German submarine and shipped back to a prison camp in Germany.

For her own part, the author said she didn't think of it as 'a mission' when she set out to 'try and get a bit of time for myself' as the basis of the journey. "At the same time I was doing all my family research, and all the commemorations for the 1914-1918 war were in preparation," she said last evening. "Then I suddenly had this light-bulb moment, when I thought I might do these two things together and make a project out of it."

She said it turned out to be a 'very extraordinary' experience, and that she did feel very close to her father during the time. "And having his books with me to refer to while I was travelling was also really wonderful."

As part of the evening, Billy Redmond demonstrated the Morse Code technology which would have been a significant part of communicating by radio in Maurice MacGrath's time. Billy served as a radio operator with the Irish UN peacekeeping forces in the then Belgian Congo.

'Over the Rolling Waters I go' is available locally in Woodbine Books, price €17.95.

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