How closely were you inspired by the myths of Merope in ‘ The Missing Sister’?Īs with all the other sisters in the series, the story of their mythical counterpart is always at the back of my mind. While I have written about war before (as in ‘ The Light Behind the Window’, where I featured the British women of the SOE during WWII), this is the first time I have written about the practicalities and machinations of military conflict in more detail.ģ. The Irish had used pitchforks and home-made explosives and exploited their intimate knowledge of the land – in essence, guerilla warfare. It was also a miracle that the volunteers of the IRA, with Michael Collins at the helm, managed to engineer a truce when they were so outnumbered in terms of manpower and arms. I was surprised to discover how ill-prepared the Irish were when they began the fight for independence from the British. A good example of this are the stories about the Irish Women’s Council, Cumann na mBan, who played such a major role in the fighting for an Irish republic but the details of their contributions are only now coming to light (please see my website for more details). I discovered that so much history was not written down and just passed down the generations orally, particularly local history from a female perspective. Very kindly, my friends and neighbours all rallied round and helped me, not only in locating places and existing historical texts but also locating families who had elderly relatives who could explain what daily life was like in West Cork early in the 20th century.

I loved the research process on Irish history, because it meant I could be based at my home in West Cork during the Covid-19 lockdown.

How did you approach the research in Ireland, the country of your birth? Were you surprised by what you found out?

Lucinda riley the missing sister