The Bargain of Beara

Set at the turn of the 20th century in rural southwest Ireland, the novel centers on the unlikely marriage of a recently widowed 38-year-old stonemason trying to raise his seven children and a 20-year-old seamstress with dreams of opening her own dress shop. But they won't come together by chance It will take the combined efforts of several eccentric characters--three meddling local parish priests, co-workers, townspeople, and members of the British Royal Navy. The tone is seriocomic as the story is a mix of difficult family tragedies and humorous vignettes that depict the universal Irish spirit--an ability to overcome great difficulty through grit, wit, and perseverance. The sharp dialogue and rich historical background will transport the reader into West Cork, Ireland in the early 1900s. In 2019, Sean M. Sullivan self-published In Search of Whiskey Moments, an ancestral study going back five generations. Intrigued by the lives of his paternal grandparents, this fictional account uses those ancestors as the central figures of his first novel.