During a walk in Courtown Woods we came across the High Cross of Kilbride deep in the woodland overlooking the Owenavorragh Stream. This early Christian site is many centuries old, yet it sits peacefully today as if guarding the trees, the wild garlic, and the soft hum of nature on the North Coast of my home county Wexford.
For novels it can take a long time to find the right title, or it can just happen as in the case of my first historical novel - Kilbride House. Writing it I had no idea what to call it, but I was consumed by the house in it and then as if it fell from the air, the name Kilbride arrived to me. At first I thought it might just be a working title but now so many things assure me that it was indeed meant to be called Kilbride all along and it was called that before I even began.
Saint Brigid also known as Brigid of Kildare is certainly reflected in the name. Before Saint Brigid there was also the Celtic Goddess Brigid. Also, the fact that Kilbride can represent ‘The Church of Saint Brigid’ makes it again the perfect name for a book that is immersed in 1950s Ireland, a land that was then very much under the influence of the Catholic Church. An Ireland that has changed unimaginably since then.
For anyone new to my writing, this was my first historical novel –
Kilbride House, despite all its grandeur, holds shocking memories within its walls – memories that have slipped through the cracks of time. As the ghosts awaken the lies begin to unravel, and everything is altered. The past cannot remain untold.
