Special Guest Post by Stephen Finlay Archer, Author of The Irish Clans Series

Available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

 The Irish Clans begins with a travesty at sea necessitating searches for life's true treasures, both in 1915 Ireland, when the funeral of O'Donovan Rossa affords a golden opportunity to fan the flames of revolution, and in America, for transplanted Irish families connected to the world of the Irish Clans.

Being of Irish descent and intensely interested in history, I decided to write the great Irish historical fiction novel about the struggle for freedom from Britain in the 20th century. In the fictitious story I chose to involve my grandfather, an Irish artist who emigrated to Canada in 1909 in order to link the fight in the homeland to the Irish diaspora in North America. In this way it brings me full circle to my roots.

The premise of the fictitious story in its prologue is the meeting of two remaining great Irish Clan Chieftains Red Hugh O’Donnell (North) and Florence MacCarthaigh (South) in 1600 prior to the defeat of the Clans at Kinsale in 1602. Fearing that outcome, they make a secret Clans Pact to hide their wealth of a thousand years separately to keep the British from seizing it. They agree to use Gaelic relics of their clans as cross-linked clues that their descendants must follow together when the time is right for revolution. And beyond their own wealth there may be an ancient prize of much greater significance to be sought. 

In researching this prolonged complex conflict involving the Easter Rising during WWI, War of Independence, and subsequent Civil War, I realized that this epic story would take several, now seven novels to tell. During the treasure hunts it draws the reader back into medieval Irish history and mythology. The story opens in Book One, Searchers, with the German U-boat sinking of the ocean liner Lusitania during WWI in May 1915. Book Five, Revolution is planned for release at the end of 2021 with the remaining two novels currently in work.

In my novels, I immerse my fictitious characters in detailed historical events, and I am careful to accurately portray the characters of historical persons who support my complex fictitious story. In the end, I hope my readers will wonder whether this was indeed fiction or perhaps exciting, unearthed history.

I hope these novels will entertain, inspire, and inform other descendants of Ireland as they enjoy the intellectual, introspective, mystic, and proud history of their homeland. I believe it is important to remember and understand our past so we can use this important knowledge for our future. The end of the rainbow may not contain a pot of gold, but it can certainly offer wisdom and a better life.

Stephen Finlay Archer

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About the Author

Stephen Finlay Archer writes Irish historical fiction illuminating Ireland's heroic, challenging and mystical past. His latest seven novel series, The Irish Clans covers the Irish revolutionary period from 1915 to 1923. This Irish family saga full of swashbuckling characters and page-turning action tells the true story of Ireland’s conflict with England. It is also a personal portrayal since the fictitious story involves his own ancestral family as they are drawn into the conflict of their Irish homeland, in his birthplace of Toronto, Canada. Archer lives in Northern California with his wife Kathy. He is a member of Writers Unlimited in California Goldrush Country and the North American and Irish branches of the Historical Novel Society. Before his retirement, he was an Aerospace Manager directing large-scale, delivery-in orbit, satellite systems for the U.S. Navy and NASA/NOAA. Find out more at Stephen's website  www.StephenFinlayArcher.com: and find him on Twitter @SFinlayArcher