The Invention of Memory: An Irish Family Scrapbook

From the arrival of his first ancestor in Dublin in 1560, Simon Loftus traces the fascinating story of his family's heritage in Ireland – piecing together fragments of legend and biography that span over 350 years of Irish history. The background is the colonial conquest of Ireland and the clash of religious and national identity, but the focus is close at hand, familial. The passions and eccentricities, the daily concerns and relationships, the rich dramas and anecdotes of individuals in this Ascendancy family – over eight generations – combine to form an enthralling memoir of shifting viewpoints and entertainingly inconsistent accounts of a shared past. The Invention of Memory is a profound family portrait and a sweeping history that examines the nature of recollection and how our memories are shaped by experience and time.