How My Irish Mother’s Faith Saved My Life by Sean Loone

Her son took the hand she could no longer use and rubbed it gently down the side of his face, she smiled, and one tear left the corner of her eye and rolled gently down her cheek. The lines on her face told a story, but only he could read it. It was time to let go now, her strength was gone, and she had nothing more to give. She closed her eyes for the last time and would never open them again in this life. Now it was the turn of her own son to wipe the tears away from his face, but he knew her story, and one day, when the time was right, he would tell it.

This is an extract from my new book, A Million Reasons to be Angry – Only One to Love, and describes the death of my mother. She came from a small place called Kilbride near Swinford in county Mayo, located in the West of Ireland. Bridget, along with her parents, two sisters, and four brothers, lived on a small homestead at the end of a boreen surrounded by vast open countryside. They scratched a living out of the land, but as the times changed such a life became unsustainable. So it was that she and her siblings eventually moved to England in search of work and a better life. Eventually I came along and the rest, as they say, is history. Or is it?

If I had to summarize my new book in two words, they would be struggle and hope. Struggle because that is the best way to describe my mother’s life from the moment she met and married my alcoholic father, and hope because it was her faith which eventually was to save us both. At times, then, there is a dark shadow which overhangs some of the things I felt compelled to describe in the book. For this reason, I reflect deeply on two issues which threatened to crush the very life out of me, and they are mental turmoil and childhood trauma. Yet, that is far from the end of the story.

What I attempt to do through the themes I explore in the book is to take people on a heartfelt journey into the depths of my own soul. As a result, I refer to the project as a spiritual memoir whereby I share much of my own life story, from a broken childhood filled with emotional wounds to a life of renewed purpose rooted in faith and love. My aim is to combine honest memories and experiences with reflections on mental health, literature, and Christian belief by gently leading the reader through moments of darkness into the light of healing love. Along the way I draw inspiration from figures such as Don Quixote and Bilbo Baggins, whilst at the same time anchoring everything in my mother’s faith in Jesus Christ. My great hope, therefore, is to offer insights into the struggle to discover the “authentic self.”

At its heart, the book is about hope: the hope that comes when someone opens the door to your pain; the hope that arises from the kindness of a teacher; and the eternal hope found in God’s unconditional love. I would like to think that the book is characterized by courageous honesty which seeks to show that there may well be a million reasons to be angry at life, but God’s unconditional love is the only answer that heals.

To achieve all of this I draw heavily not only on my mother’s faith but also on my own Irish identity. Hence there are constant references throughout the book to Ireland and the debt I owe to everything it has given to me. This led me to say, with reference to my mother and grandmother, Kate and Bridget Conry, “I stood on your shoulders and saw wonderful things.” So, if you want to be taken on a ride from Kilbride to Swinford, resting for a while in Knock, all in county Mayo, before being taken to Dublin and beyond with the music to Riverdance as your soundtrack, then join me on a journey through a life. At times you might just find yourself laughing—and I have no doubt that there will be tears, too—but if you see it through to the end, what emerges out of the darkness is the light of love.

To finish, for anyone struggling with their own wounds, supporting someone going through any kind of hardship, or seeking to deepen their own understanding of faith, mental health, or childhood trauma, I hope this book offers solace, guidance, and inspiration. ♦

Deacon Sean Loone is the author of 10 books, his latest being A Million Reasons to Be Angry – Only One to Love: A Book about Mental Health, Childhood Trauma, and Faith. It will be released on October 13, 2025, and is available in hardback, paperback, and for Kindle from Amazon, and in paperback from bookstores.

Image: County Mayo, Turlough Church | Wikimedia Commons/Dots Mac | CC BY-SA 4.0