The Faraway Hills are Green: Voices of Irish Women in Canada

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Despite its scholarly approach, with sources documented and solid
bibliographic references, this book can be read with enjoyment by the
nonacademic. As an in-depth exploration of a particular strand in
Canada’s social fabric, it has much to tell us about ourselves.

Conway and her interviewees present the history of Irish women as one
of grief and heartbreak, oppression and resistance, poverty and
exploitation. A diverse group of some 20 Irish immigrant women are
quoted at length in the book in an approach suggestive of oral history.
Many of the issues voiced are shared by women of all cultures: poverty,
sexism, motherhood, marriage, employment equity, day care, physical and
sexual abuse. As well, they speak of their loss of roots and of their
dreams, disappointments, resentments, and successes. The work explores
many themes, including what it means to be Irish; women as keepers of
Irish culture; the patriarchy and misogyny of the Church; racism (“No
Blacks, No Irish, No Dogs”); and what it means to be cut off from
one’s culture by immigration.

Conway’s introduction blends history and sociology, and is an
excellent preparation for this vivid and readable picture of women lost
between two cultures.