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by Thomas A. Keenan (Author), Owen Gent (Cover Design by), Eva Maria Dietrich Carreño (Editor)
Ireland, 1846. The Great Famine grips the land-and the road north may be the only road left.
In famine-stricken 19th-century Ireland, young Tom Ryan leaves Ballyhooly with his cousin Frank and a pig named Toto, setting out across the rugged Galtee Mountains toward the promise of opportunity in Tipperary. What begins as a practical journey soon becomes a passage through a country unraveling under the weight of hunger, eviction, violence, and despair.
The Irish countryside has turned perilous. Starving families line the roads. Ruthless land agents enforce brutal order. Soup kitchens trade food for faith. Secret societies lurk in the shadows. And always nearby is the enigmatic bean feasa-an old seer known only as The Hag-a figure steeped in Celtic folklore and Irish mythology, who dispenses cryptic wisdom, demands small services, and intervenes in destinies with unsettling precision.
As famine, faith, and fate collide, Tom must decide what kind of man he will become in a world where survival often comes at a moral cost. With each mile, he confronts questions of loyalty, identity, land, love, and the fragile line between the natural and the supernatural.
Tom Ryan's Shoes: The Legend of the Banshee Castle is sweeping Irish historical fiction infused with Celtic legend, magical realism, and mythic storytelling. Rich in atmosphere and grounded in the history of the Great Irish Famine, this epic coming-of-age adventure blends folklore, literary depth, dark humor, and historical drama into a powerful tale of resilience and transformation.
A haunting and immersive journey through 19th-century Ireland, where history and legend walk side by side-and where even in humanity's darkest hours, myth and mercy endure.
