History is a record or an account of past events. a person, a society, a cililisation, a period or a place can be the subject of history. The place can be a continent, a country, a city or a province, a town, village or, as in this case, a townland. In some instances, the historian endeavours to interpret past events. Sometimes, the historian simply presents a collection of facts or records events and leaves it to the reader to interpret these facts and events.

This book focuses on one small townland, Carrowmenagh, in Inishowen in County Donegal. In these pages, we meet the people who inhaited this area. We read about how they llived and how they coped in years gone by. The author has carried out considerable and detailed research. John A McLaughlin has unearthed and recorded a wealth of interesting and fascinating information. This could be the story of many townlands in Donegal.

I was particularly struck by the chapter on the 1881 evictions. Whilst I know about evictions in other areas, I was not aware of thses horrifying and shocking incidents in Inishowen. We are indebted to the Irish Folklore Commission for ensuring that the harrowing stories of Mary Doherty and Neil McGonigle were recorded for posterity.

Local history is usually passed on by word ofmouth from one generation to another. Much of it can be lost when it is not written down. This is the written story of a townland and its people, based on oral history and various records, local and national. In future years, local historians will be grateful to John A McLaughlin for his research and for putting it all in writing.

I hope that other individuals will emabark on similar projects on their own townlands.