Euro
British Pound
Product Description
On 19 January 1947 Ireland was invaded by a "freakish" anticyclonic weather phenomenon that lasted for two months. The arctic siege brought freezing temperatures of -14 Degrees Centigrade (7 DegreesF), a piercing east wind reaching 60-70 m.p.h., five major blizzards, and snowdrifts of 12 to 20 feet-some topping 50. Cars, buses, houses and entire villages were buried, roads were blocked, telephone and electricity lines felled and towns and farms isolated as food and fuel dwindled.
Tragically this happened amidst the worst fuel crisis in Ireland's history, in the aftermath of WW2. People were forced to strip wood from their homes, and nearly half of all Dubliners were burning furniture to survive. By 19 February 1947 Dublin's death rate had more than doubled as the poor and elderly succumbed to hunger, cold and illness.
Kevin C. Kearns presents a graphic account of what was regarded as a near-biblical calamity of blizzards, freezing, hunger, floods and threatened famine. This is a vivid tale of suffering and courage, death and survival, of human resilience and real heroism, poignantly authenticated by the oral testimony of those who lived through the arctic siege.
Hardcover, published by Gill Books , 2011. Light edgewear only, two sections of period photographs inside, plus images of newspapers etc.
