The unforgettable true story behind the best-selling book Finding Tipperary Mary. A brutal and touching account of the life of Bridget ’Tipperary Mary’ Larkin. She faced poverty, bereavement, cruelty and abandonment many times over – yet never lost the heart to seek true love. Returning to rural Ireland in 1938 and a young girl full of hope and expectation, it recounts a series of tragic events that eventually bring her to Manchester and Birmingham – and a desperate daily struggle to survive. Bridget’s haunting story, told for her by her daughter, is a perfect example of both the fragility and resilience of the human spirit.

Two separate lives, one heartbreaking secretWhen Phyllis Whitsell was just eight months old, her mother died of tuberculosis. At least, that what's Phyllis grew up being told. But Phyllis never believed it was true. She prayed every night for God to take care of her birth mother, holding onto the hope that she was alive and out there, somewhere.Finally, after years of searching, Phyllis finds her birth mother—Bridget, known locally as Tipperary Mary. But the loving reunion Phyllis had hoped for is complicated by a difficult past. The mother she discovers is a broken woman—a victim of early onset dementia, an alcoholic, and a woman crushed by years of missing the daughter she gave up.Phyllis, by this time a community nurse with her own children, keeps the discovery from her family. She begins to care for Bridget—visiting her at home, buying her new clothes, tending to her maladies and giving her as much love as she can. All...

The astonishing real story of a daughter’s search for her own past – and the desperate mother who gave her up ‘I lit the candle and prayed for my birth mother, asking God to take care of her. It was as if I had made some kind of connection with her. Even at such a young age, I found it difficult to understand, but I always feared that she was in danger and needed my prayers. It was the only thing at the time that I could do for her. I feared that she might be coming to some harm and that she was not happy, but I was helpless and had nobody to talk to about my feelings. The only thing at that time was to pray that her guardian angel would take care of her and keep her from harm.’ Phyllis Whitsell began the search for her birth mother as a young woman – and although it was many years before she finally met her, their lives had crossed on the journey without their knowledge. When they both eventually sat down together – the circumstances were extraordinary, moving and ultimately life-changing. This is a daughter’s personal account of the remarkable relationship that grew from abandonment into love, understanding and selfless care