The Sorrow and the Loss: The Tragic Shadow Cast by the Troubles on the Lives of Women

Award-winning journalist and bestselling author Martin Dillon returns to shine a light on the role of women in the Troubles, amplifying voices long silenced by the din of history. Through raw and compelling testimonies from both sides of the community, Dillon explores the overlooked perspectives of women whose lives were impacted by the brutal conflict. Some were directly involved in violence as members of paramilitary organisations. Many witnessed the ruthless murders of family members. All were profoundly and irrevocably affected by the violence and its aftermath. Former IRA volunteers, the wife of notorious UDA Commander Stevie ’ Top Gun’ McKeag, a survivor of the 1974 Dublin bombings and the daughter of a murdered judge share their stories among many others, their words reverberating with the intensity of their experiences. Dillon also unmasks the shadowy dealings of British intelligence and the impact of collusion on unsolved murders, exposing the layers of deception that have haunted families and communities. The Sorrow and the Loss is an eye-opening exploration of the previously unwritten history of the Troubles.

Martin Dillon worked as a BBC journalist for eighteen years producing award-winning programmes for television and radio, and has won international acclaim for his unique, investigative books on the Northern Ireland conflict. Conor Cruise O’ Brien, renowned historian and scholar, described him as ’ our Virgil to that inferno’ .