Children of the Troubles

The Untold Story of the Children Killed in the Northern Ireland Conflict

Author: Joe Duffy and Freya McClements

Based on original interviews with almost 100 families, as well as extensive archival research, this unique book includes children who have never been publicly acknowledged as victims of the Troubles, and draws a compelling social and cultural picture of the era.

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"The bullets didn't just travel in distance, they travelled in time. Some of those bullets never stop travelling." Jack Kennedy, father of James Kennedy

On 15th August 1969, nine-year-old Patrick Rooney became the first child killed as a result of the 'Troubles' - one of 186 children who would die in the conflict in Northern Ireland.

Fifty years on, these young lives are honoured in a memorable book that spans a singular era.

From the teenage striker who scored two goals in a Belfast schools cup final, to the aspiring architect who promised to build his mother a house, to the five-year-old girl who wrote in her copy book on the day she died, 'I am a good girl. I talk to God', Children of the Troubles recounts the previously untold story of Northern Ireland's lost children -- and those who died in the Republic, the UK and as far afield as West Germany -- and the lives that might have been.

Based on original interviews with almost one hundred families, as well as extensive archival research, this unique book includes many children who have never been publicly acknowledged as victims of the Troubles, and draws a compelling social and cultural picture of the era.

Much loved, deeply mourned, and never forgotten, Children of the Troubles is both an acknowledgement of and a tribute to young lives lost.

About the Author

Joe Duffy (Author)

Broadcaster and author Joe Duffy is the presenter of Ireland's most popular daily radio show, Liveline, on RTE Radio 1. He also presents Liveline Callback on RTE One Television.

Born in Dublin's Mountjoy Square and reared in Ballyfermot, he published his bestselling memoir Just Joe in 2010.

In 2015, his original research on the children killed during the Easter Rising of 1916 unearthed for the first time information on the forty children who died violently that week. His acclaimed book Children of the Rising won the non-fiction Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards.

Freya McClements (Author)

Journalist and author Freya McClements is Northern Correspondent with The Irish Times.

From Derry, she is a former reporter with the Derry Journal and was a journalist and producer with the BBC in Northern Ireland from 2007-2016, as well as a documentary producer and presenter for the BBC Radio Ulster and BBC Radio 4.

She is also the author of the short story collection The Dangerous Edge of Things (Guildhall Press, 2012). Freya was the captain of the team from Magdalen College, Oxford, which won University Challenge in 2004, and she represents Northern Ireland on the BBC Radio 4 Panel show Round Britain Quiz.

More on this Book

"The bullets didn't just travel in distance, they travelled in time. Some of those bullets never stop travelling." Jack Kennedy, father of James Kennedy On 15th August 1969, nine-year-old Patrick Rooney became the first child killed as a result of the 'Troubles' - one of 186 children who would die in the conflict in Northern Ireland. Fifty years on, these young lives are honoured in a memorable book that spans a singular era.From the teenage striker who scored two goals in a Belfast schools cup final, to the aspiring architect who promised to build his mother a house, to the five-year-old girl who wrote in her copy book on the day she died, 'I am a good girl. I talk to God', Children of the Troubles recounts the previously untold story of Northern Ireland's lost children -- and those who died in the Republic, the UK and as far afield as West Germany -- and the lives that might have been. Based on original interviews with almost one hundred families, as well as extensive archival research, this unique book includes many children who have never been publicly acknowledged as victims of the Troubles, and draws a compelling social and cultural picture of the era. Much loved, deeply mourned, and never forgotten, Children of the Troubles is both an acknowledgement of and a tribute to young lives lost.