3 Review(s)

Those Who Trespass Against Us is a vivid, disturbing look at the life and suffering of one small, orphaned, Irish boy. This is a heart-wrenching tale based on the life of Walter O'Keeffe, between, 1939-1948 in Ireland, as he struggles to survive the inhumane treatment imposed on him by those charged with his care. This is a tragic, personal account of lost love and abuse at a time when the Irish legal system had gone mad with regard to the care of children. Through-out the book a sharp picture is painted of the horrific conditions in Ireland's Industrial Schools, in particular, Greenmont Industrial School in Cork where the Presentation Brothers starved, beat, preyed upon, and abused the children in their care. During his years of abuse, Walter's happy memories of his early life with his parents in Polrone Ireland, and of his childhood sweetheart, Josie, provide him with hope and a place to escape the harsh realities of his dreadful existence. On May 11, 1999, the Government of Ireland apologized on behalf of the State to the victims of abuse in Ireland's industrial schools. For many, like Walter, the apology came to late, his life had already been grossly affected and negatively shaped by the horrors of being separated from his family and growing up in Greenmont. Other stories relate the suffering of Ireland's children, and while they are all horrible, no other so brilliantly describes a personal account of the severe conditions children were exposed to during this shameful period of Irish history. Walters story also exposes the lasting impact living in these conditions continued to have on individuals' even years after they left the chambers of horrors in which they wereforced to live.