From the Gaeltacht to Galicia: A Son’s Tale

From the Gaeltacht to Galicia: A Son’s Tale

by Paul Murray

I have linked the story of my father’s incarceration (Frank Murray) for 42 months at the hands of the Japanese in Singapore and on the island of Hokkaido where he was the chief medical officer and CO of 350 British POWS with three long distance walking pilgrimages I have done in Spain.

Dad subsequently returned to his native Belfast to set up his medical practice in the north of the city. His surgery was burnt down by a mob in 1972. The book also features my experiences of growing up during the Troubles. I explore the theme of reconciliation as, using my father’s secret daily diary, I made a pilgrimage to the Far East in 2017.

The story of the drowning of the second in command of the Spanish Armada is an additional element in the book as is my father’s and my own battle with the painful arthritic condition of axial SpA. Any money I make from the book is going to the arthritis charity NASS.