⋙ Read Irish Odyssey eBook Jay Anderson

Irish Odyssey eBook Jay Anderson

Download As PDF : Irish Odyssey eBook Jay Anderson

Who killed James Branelly? Born in 1840, he survived the misery of the Irish Potato Famine before facing the rigors of combat and harsh winter weather in the Crimean War. Later pursued by British authorities for his Irish Freedom activities, he escaped to the United States. Soon after his arrival, Fort Sumter was fired upon, leading him to the 5th US Artillery. Despite wounds suffered in two wars he rose to Quartermaster Sergeant and was discharged as a Captain after six years of service.

His ‘heroic’ life was filled with sorrow and disillusionment. James’s first love, tortured by poverty, famine and a ruthless thug, fell victim to opium and prostitution. Betrayed first by a fighting comrade, then disappointed by a fellow freedom fighter, he sought a new life. Despite worldly success and the respect of his community, his destiny was fixed.

Torn between a father obsessed with community acceptance and an uncle devoted to fighting injustice, his life was plagued with external and internal conflict as he sought truth and right. Even death could not still his search. Throughout life and death, he felt the strange, powerful presence of the Morrigan, ancient Celtic goddess of life and death on the battlefield.

Someone shot him to death in 1894. Who among his many past adversaries was the killer? Will the Morrigan guide him to the answer, or will her darkness steal his very soul?

This work of fiction was inspired by the life of one of my great-grandfathers, who did indeed fight in two wars and for the cause of Irish freedom.