Book Description
Two Irish Lads is a pioneer story with a difference.
It is at once a carefully researched depiction of pioneer life in the early part of the nineteenth-century, and also a love story of two men who might have lived during such a challenging time.
Sean and Patrick McConaghy are two young cousins who set sail from Ireland one St. Patrick's Day in 1820, and after a long and eventful crossing of the Atlantic, they tackle the mighty St. Lawrence River with a band of rugged voyageurs to eventually settle in the wilderness of Upper Canada.
Here they are not only confronted by the daunting task of carving a homestead out of the vast primeval forest, but also the ever-present danger of living as a devoted couple in a world where the possibilities of humiliation and death awaited them at every turn if their secret should ever be discovered.
It is a tale that also encompasses mystery, tragedy, brawling, humour and pathos.
About the Author
Now retired at the age of 70 years, Gerry Burnie has had a long and varied career. For twenty years prior to his retirement, he lectured on the topics of political science and law at Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology in Toronto, Canada. Following that career he turned his interest to history, and lectured for a further five years on the topic of early pioneer settlement in Ontario. In addition, he has been an actor, singer, dancer, artist and municipal politician at various times in his life. These pursuits have been somewhat curtailed on account of his age, but not his energetic spirit. A second novel is now in the works.