Haunted Ground

Acknowledgments

I thank the many people who contributed to the writing of this book: my friend Daithi Sproule, for a long-ago invitation to visit his family in Donegal, and for his indispensable and ongoing assistance with questions about Irish language and literature; Eilis Sproule, who first sparked my imagination with the tale of a nameless, beheaded red-haired girl; Dr. Barry Raftery, of the Department of Archaeology at University College Dublin, who generously shared his firsthand experience with the real-life cailin rua, and who, in addition to providing invaluable advice and information on archaeological matters, was kind enough to offer introductions to many of his colleagues; the late Dr. Maire Delaney, of Trinity College Medical School, for sharing her expertise and experience with rare bog remains; Garda Siochana officers Patrick J. Cleary and the late Vincent Tobin of the Collator’s Office in Cork City, and Detectives Frank Manion of Tralee, County Kerry, and Michael Ryan of Loughrea, County Galway, for essential background and assistance on police procedure; Dr. Raghnall O Floinn, of the Irish Antiquities Division at the National Museum of Ireland, for help with museum information and procedure; Rolly Read, Keeper of Conservation at the National Museum of Ireland, for allowing me access to the conservation lab at Collins Barracks; archaeologist Malachy Conway, who generously offered a guided tour of his excavation work at a medieval ecclesiastical site; Terry Melton of Mitotyping Technologies, for information on mitochondrial DNA; Angela Bourke, Thomas O’Grady, Anne Kenne, Peter Costello, and Donna Wong, for much-needed assistance with literary and historical sources. Many thanks also to Mary and Sean O’Driscoll, James Kelly, John and Mary Kelly, Susan McKeown, Niamh Parsons, Dolores Keane, and the many other wonderful traditional players and singers who inspired the music in this book. The help of these people undoubtedly prevented many factual errors; any that remain are solely my responsibility.

I also owe a debt of gratitude to Susan Burmeister-Brown and Linda Davies of Glimmer Train, for publishing my first short story, thereby setting this book in motion; to Vickie Benson of the Jerome Foundation, and to the Dayton Hudson, General Mills, and Jerome Foundations, for their generous support of the research for this book; to Paulette Bates Alden, for her kind and thoughtful critique; to Susanne Kirk at Scribner, for expert and judicious editing; and to my agent, Sally Wofford-Girand, for making a leap of faith and for her colossal patience through many rough drafts. To the many friends and colleagues who cheered me on, most especially Susan Hamre, Lynda McDonnell, Cheryll Ostrom, Claudia Poser, Liz Weir, Eileen McIsaac, Bonnie Schueler, Pat McMorrow, Jane Fallander, and Jo Coffman, I offer sincere thanks. Finally, for their unflagging support and encouragement, I am most deeply indebted to my remarkable family (especially my mother, for her insightful plot and character analysis) and to my beloved husband, Paddy O’Brien, whose fiercely creative spirit infuses my life with joy and inspiration. Of all those whose contributions I may have neglected, through failure of memory or character, I most humbly beg forgiveness.

This story makes mention of many real institutions and localities in Ireland. And although Drumcleggan Bog, Drumcleggan Priory, Bracklyn House, and the villages of Kilgarvan, County Clare, and Dunbeg, County Galway, are based in part on real locations, and may in fact share the names of places that can be found on a map, they exist nowhere but in my own imagination.