Gaye Shortland Knihy

Daniel O'Connell was a huge celebrity in his time. As a brilliant young lawyer, he became famous for saving people from hanging. He fought against slavery and every kind of oppression, but all by peaceful means though he did kill a man in a duel. He then became known as The Liberator as he fought for the Catholics in Ireland who had hardly any rights at the time. Daniel soon became a folk hero, adored by the Irish people who used to tell stories about him around their firesides though only half of them were true! Little wonder then that he was known as King Dan! This is the story of one of the most remarkable men who ever lived: Daniel O'Connell

Roger Casement spent his life fighting for human rights. In Africa and South America he exposed the terrible things being done to the native people to force them to produce rubber for cruel and greedy companies. For this work Roger was made a Knight of the British Empire. But his dearest wish was to free his own country, Ireland, from British rule.So, at Easter 1916 he arrived secretlyby submarine, in an attempt to land armsfor the Easter Rising. But Roger was arrested and tried for treason . . .

In 1918, sailors from the famous polar ship Endurance recorded a ballad about one of their fellow crew members. The chorus went: Hail, hail, Tom Crean, hail, hail, Tom Crean,He's the bravest man that the world's ever seen.Hail, hail, Tom Crean, hail, hail, Tom Crean,He's the Irish giant from County Kerry!So, who was this man hailed as a hero and loved and respected so much? Who "faced death many times and never backed down"? And how did this farmer's son from Kerry, who ran away to join the navy at 15, come to be such a famous Antarctic explorer? This is his amazing story.