Product Description
by Ryan Michael Collins (Author)
John McGlinchey, a young Irish transplant from County Donegal finds little opportunity in South Philadelphia during Reconstruction era America. His war time savings nearly depleted, he is determined to find work and joins hundreds of his countrymen in one of the greatest engineering quests of the time, building the Trans-Continental Railroad. McGlinchey provides a first person narrative of the events he encounters that overturn many of his contemporary views of race and religion while at the same time providing an unvarnished view of people great and small that shaped this grand endeavor.
Author Biography
Ryan M. Collins has collected a wide array of tales regarding the great public works of the late nineteenth century. Fusing the experiences of his travels throughout the Western United States, training as a teacher and experience as a journalist, Collins leads the reader through a first person narrative of young Irish lads moving westward in a search for adventure and better life. Collins is a writing teacher and holds advanced degrees in education and public administration. He makes his home in Southeastern Arizona.
