Patrick’s Journey is an historical fiction novel that is based on the real life history of my great grandfather (4 times removed). I first heard about his story at a family reunion many years ago and was captivated by the dramatic changes he experienced during his life’s journey (hence the title).

This was a story just waiting to be told, one of those where fact can seem stranger than fiction. However, I was constantly wondering about what his emotional journey must have been like. Nobody could have experienced the quantum shifts in circumstances that he did without having an equivalent "journey" of emotions. There had already been a number of historical articles published about him and so I decided I would deviate from the traditional approach and publish something that encompassed his emotional journey as well. Historical fiction was the obvious answer and so on retirement I embarked on a project that was to last the best part of eighteen months.

I soon found there was ample incidental history published about the times in which he lived. For example, there are numerous documents covering the United Irishmen and their struggle for independence. While Patrick's conviction papers refer to a civil matter (theft) there was an endorsement on one court document describing him as an "Irish Rebel". It wasn't hard to conjure circumstances that interwove a United Irishmen connection to his arrest and trial and tie that back to our family folklore which insists his punishment was a British Military "get square" for a dispute involving the family cow.

Similarly, there is considerable information published about the convict ship Boddington on which he was transported to Australia. In some ways Patrick was a lucky man. The Boddington was one of the first ships to adopt new hygiene and humanitarian measures designed to curb the appalling death rate amongst convicts being transported to the penal colony of New South Wales.

My hope is to entertain readers while at the same time keep the memory of my ancestor alive.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.