Kindle Price: $10.00

Promotions apply when you purchase

These promotions will be applied to this item:

Some promotions may be combined; others are not eligible to be combined with other offers. For details, please see the Terms & Conditions associated with these promotions.

Read with our free app
You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.
Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

Buy for others

Give as a gift or purchase for a team or group.
Learn more

Buying and sending eBooks to others

  1. Select quantity
  2. Buy and send eBooks
  3. Recipients can read on any device

These ebooks can only be redeemed by recipients in the US. Redemption links and eBooks cannot be resold.
Kindle app logo image

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

QR code to download the Kindle App

Amazon book clubs early access
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Amazon book clubs early access

Join or create book clubs

Choose books together

Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Explore Amazon Book Clubs

I am Patrick: A Donegal: Childhood Remembered Kindle Edition

by Patrick Doherty (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 10 ratings
See all formats and editions
Patrick’s memoir recalls a deeply traditional world, on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean, that grappled daily with the harsh realities of farming, poverty, and the powers of The Church. Patrick was caught between the demands of his father, who wanted the boys to help on the farm, and his ambitious mother who wanted to give her children opportunities through education. In a distinctive, teetotal, non-smoking family Patrick, the seventh son, struggled to find his place.
You will follow a deeply conflicted child wanting to be one of the men as well as a good student. An acute observer of the farming year and the physical demands of planting, sowing, reaping, and digging. Singled out at school, young Patrick is voiceless in a world of silence and violence. His minutely drawn account of events, place and personality allow the reader to be transported to childhood fears and incomprehension.
Patrick narrates his story through the dialogue of his youth as he shows the challenges of subsistence farming life lifted by moments of family humour. His yearning for belonging, his endurance and his eventual escape speaks to generations of a remote, but not distant, Ireland.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    224 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publisher
    Lulu.com
  5. Publication date
    February 24, 2022
  6. File size
    843 KB
  7. Page Flip
    Enabled
  8. Word Wise
    Not Enabled
  9. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  10. See all details
Next page
Add a debit or credit card to save time when you check out
Convenient and secure with 2 clicks. Add your card

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Patrick Doherty Patrick Doherty grew up in Malin Head, Ireland's most northerly point. He attended Colgan Hall in Carndonagh, Donegal and later trained to be a French teacher in Manchester. He taught French and was a headteacher in Lancashire schools for more than thirty years. Patrick now lives and writes in France.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09TQ4SVFT
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lulu.com (February 24, 2022)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 24, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 843 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 10 ratings

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
10 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

There are 0 reviews and 1 rating from the United States

Top reviews from other countries

GL
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful read.
Reviewed in France on April 5, 2022
Verified Purchase
This book is a wonderful read. Patrick Doherty recalls, in minutely observed detail, farming life in Donegal in the 50’s and 60’s. He describes the seasonal processes, the machines, and the hard physical labour, as well as the camaraderie and the humour of subsistence farming in Ireland. The stories probably represent a history of many lives in their account if the brutality of life in the home and at school at a time when the church ruled everyone. A poignant read. Highly recommended.
Report
GGo.
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 24, 2022
Verified Purchase
With the help of a really useful glossary we follow the life of a small boy living in rural Ireland in the 1950s to qualified teacher at the start of his career in England almost two decades later.
As someone of a similar age, but raised in a very different environment, Patrick’s memoir opened my eyes to the reality of growing up in a large and impoverished farming family with the expectation that everyone had to pull their weight and love was tough.
This account also provides an insight in to the harshness of Catholic education in Ireland at that time. Patrick is intelligent and, encouraged by his mother, is successful at school yet endures regular punishment at the hands of the priests who taught him.
Patrick’s recall is phenomenal and he paints such a vivid picture of his childhood. I am left wanting to find out more about Patrick, his siblings and the impact that his upbringing and education had on his own family and career.
Report
Diana
5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 29, 2022
Verified Purchase
This autobiography is a compelling account of a rural Irish upbringing. Life on the farm was physically tough and emotionally difficult. Farming followed seasonal rhythms and it was very interesting to read about the farm work and rural traditions. School life was harsh and punitive. Despite this the author achieved his ambitions. A recommended read.
Report
Report an issue

Does this item contain inappropriate content?
Report
Do you believe that this item violates a copyright?
Report
Does this item contain quality or formatting issues?
Report