A New Home

It is 1964 and jobs are scarce in Ireland. Aileen, sixteen years old, is sad to leave Dublin and move to London with her dad. But she’s surprised to find that London is not as far from Ireland as she imagined.

Cian is on a school tour and visiting the Walls of Derry. The teacher explains that they were built to protect English and Scottish plantation settlers within the city. The historical story brings us back to 1616.

It’s 1847, and 16 year old Margaret, her little sister Ellen and her father, have arrived in Dublin to get the ferry to England, from where they board a ship to Grosse Ile in Quebec. Margaret’s father develops a fever and is placed in quarantine, but Margaret is determined that she and Ellen and won’t be separated from one another.

Alva, a twelve-year-old, lives in Viking Dublin with her family. As a trader, her father travels to many different places and one night brings home a young slave. Alva befriends the boy, despite her father forbidding her to. When fire breaks out, the fate of the family hangs in the balance.

Saoirse finds an old black and white postcard from 1900 which sets us travelling. 10 Year old Patrick, travels to New York with his mother and little sister, hoping to find her uncle John, who emigrated to America ten years earlier. But they find that New York is less welcoming than they had expected...

Saoirse is on a tour of the museum with her mum and spots an old bible from 1680, which the museum curator says has been baked in an oven. So begins the story of Myriam, who, at 14, must travel to Dublin with her baby sister on her own.