Every Dark Hour

Every Dark Hour

Kilmainham Jail is perhaps the most important building in modern Irish history. A place of incarceration since its construction in the late eighteenth century, it housed a succession of petty criminals, including sheep rustlers and, during the Famine, people who committed crimes with the sole aim of being imprisoned there: even the meager rations offered at the jail were better than what was available in other parts of the country. It was a powerful symbol of British rule on the island of Ireland; its residents over the years included the bold Robert Emmet and, of course, it was also the place where the 1916 rebels were taken and executed. Every Dark Hour is a colourful and entertaining telling of the history of the jail and its colourful cast of residents over the years - as well as vivid accounts of the heroic men and women who gave freely of their time and energies to restore the jail to its former grandeur when it was on the verge of being reclaimed by the elements.

Rays of light for dark hours

Bright Triumphs From Dark Hours

The dark hours: They occur when we find things spiraling out of control, when we feel most vulnerable and incapable of finding a solution. In a world often turned dark and cold, more and more people seem to be trapped in nightmarish circumstances. Americans, the world's optimists, when faced with an intractable situation, are taught to believe that through hardwork and will power they can "beat the odds." Yet, according to David Heenan, keeping one's nose to the grindstone may actually make things worse. Bright Triumphs From Dark Hours examines the lives of ten extraordinary people who overcame great adversity in their personal or professional lives by applying winning strategies that guided them out of the darkness of near-defeat and into the light of success. From New York City school chancellor Joel Klein taking on the monumental task of overhauling the city's embattled public school system to renowned scientist Shirley Ann Jackson breaking down barriers to become the first African American woman to receive a doctorate from MIT and head a major research university to retired U.S. Navy Commander Scott Waddle reshaping his life after the Ehime Maru disaster--in these inspiring stories Heenan identifies key strategies that helped each person stay upbeat in the swirling vortex of tough times. The final chapter outlines these practices in greater detail and explains how they can be used to create personal roadmaps to negotiate life's darkest hours--from which come its greatest successes, its brightest triumphs.