One of the many interesting Irish books published during 2020 is Here’s, the Story: A Memoir by Mary McAleese, the former Irish President (Penguin/Sandycove). Her journey in life was full of challenges, ambitious goals, and many achievements. Born n Belfast in 1951, she graduated in law from Queen’s University, and in 1974 became one of the first three women called to the Northern Ireland Bar, before her appointment in 1975 as Reid Professor of Law at Trinity College, Dublin, and later a broadcaster with RTÉ. She was appointed Director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies at Queen’s University, Belfast, and the first female pro vice-chancellor of the university from 1994, before her election as President of Ireland in 1997 and serving two-seven year terms to 2011. Of the many issues explored in the book, three are very interesting, with numerous new insights: how she and her family survived through the Troubles in Northern Ireland, the work she did as President to build bridges between the two communities there as part of the peace process, and her big role in the historic visit of Queen Elizabeth to the Irish Republic in May 2011.
Mary was the eldest of nine children, five boys and four girls, born to Patrick Leneghan, a native of north Roscommon who moved to Belfast in search of work, and his wife, Claire, née McManus, a native Maghera in County Derry. The family settled in Ardoyne in north Belfast, with frequent moves there as their family increased. Her strong faith sustained her and she had a very close association with the Holy Cross Church and Monastery in Ardoyne. She had a happy childhood until her native area became a flashpoint for the sectarian Troubles which erupted there in 1969. In her memoir, Mary describes how she, her family, and friends survived during those horrific years, when they saw many friends killed or injured in organised attacks and the ethnic cleansing of streets. They lost their home in the Troubles, and her father’s pub was bombed in October 1972. The family eventually moved to Rostrevor, County Down. In March 1976, Mary Leneghan married Martin McAleese, a Catholic from east Belfast, an accountant (and later a dentist) and a former Antrim minor footballer.
Mary McAleese made ‘bridge-building’, the theme of her presidency. She had been involved in the peace process and described herself as ‘a constitutional nationalist’, with great admiration for John Hume who sought to promote conciliation between the two communities in Northern Ireland, between north and south, and between Ireland and Great Britain. Martin McAleese had a huge role in the bridge-building and worked tirelessly on a “full-time and pro-bono basis” to bring loyalist paramilitaries into the peace process. Mary visited both communities in Northern Ireland and entertained their representatives at Áras an Uachárain. Most readers of the memoir will be surprised at the extent of this work.
As President, Mary McAleese had a big role in the invitation and arrangements for the visit of Queen Elizabeth visit the Irish Republic. The visit, the first by a British monarch since Irish independence, exceeded all expectations in a spirit of reconciliation. In her address at a state reception in Dublin Castle, Queen Elizabeth referred to the pain of the past and said: “We can all see things we wish we had done differently or not at all”. Mary McAleese, in her reply stated: “This visit is a culmination of the peace process. It is an acknowledgement that while we cannot change the past, we have chosen to change the future."
After leaving the presidency, Mary McAleese went to Rome and completed a doctorate in canon law, which is well captured in the book as well as her frank views on what she calls the ‘misogyny of the Catholic Church’ and on various clerics. Overall, this is a candid and fascinating memoir by an Irish public figure, who has made a big contribution to her country.


Exploring Mayo by Bernard O’Hara is now available Worldwide as an eBook for the amazon Kindle application.
The print version of Bernard O’Hara’s book Exploring Mayo can be obtained by contacting www.mayobooks.ie.
Bernard O'Hara's book entitled Killasser: Heritage of a Mayo Parish is now on sale in the USA and UK as a paperback book at amazon.com, amazon.co.uk or Barnes and Noble
It is also available as an eBook from the Apple iBookstore (for reading on iPad and iPhone), from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk (Kindle & Kindle Fire) and from Barnesandnoble.com (Nook tablet and eReader).
An earlier publication, a concise biography of Michael Davitt, entitled Davitt by Bernard O’Hara published in 2006 by Mayo County Council , is now available as Davitt: Irish Patriot and Father of the Land League by Bernard O’Hara, which was published in the USA by Tudor Gate Press (www.tudorgatepress.com) and is available from amazon.com and amazon.co.uk. It can be obtained as an eBook from the Apple iBookstore (for reading on iPad and iPhone), from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk (Kindle & Kindle Fire) and from Barnesandnoble.com (Nook tablet and eReader).