In 1816 the author’s great-great grandfather, Thomas Kearey, arrived in England to seek his fortune. He was the latest - but by no means the last - in a line of strong and resourceful men. This book is the story of the Keareys, and of their place in history through the centuries. It relates how the Ciardha (‘Ciar’s people’) in the Ireland of the Dark Ages evolved into the modern Keareys, how holders of that name laboured, loved and fought through the centuries, and how in more recent times they were proud to fight with honour for their adopted country of Britain in two world wars. Terence Kearey has woven the carefully-researched story of what happened to his family over the centuries into the economic and social history of these islands, explaining how his ancestors coped with, and in some cases helped to change, the vicissitudes of poverty, war and economic and social change. The result is a detailed and vivid picture of a past that is quickly fading from memory.