Customer Reviews

Against the Tide

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Not just an autobiography: for those seriously interested in Ireland this is an unromantic expose of Irish society by a reluctant author, one who has nevertheless produced an invaluable historical work.

Witness his boyhood excitement during a Civil War clash outside his home, the comedic sight of former enemies trading verbal insults in the Irish parliament, and the hypocrisy of some of the leading players therein.
We have the desperate hard work of his parents, the cruel treatment of his mother by her family, and the sight of his family's destruction by disease, all sensitively measured by Dr.Browne against the knowledge that this little boy's suffering is repeated a thousand-fold across Ireland.

Remembering this, he accepted the chance to become a doctor, transgressing centuries-old sectarian rules which would hamper his future progress. After entering Irish politics he discovered that the ultimate power in Ireland lay not with elected politicians but with the bishops of the Catholic church, whose opulent lifestyle contrasted poignantly with the terrible hardships of the masses, and whose actions to prevent free medical care for mothers and children and to demonise him from the pulpit left him disillusioned with the religion and the Irish Parliament.

Further medical training brought him into the psychiatric field, where he found barriers as high as ever. He could have had an easier life in England or the USA, however he choose to stay and help Ireland develop in spite of itself and at a considerable personal cost.

There is anger and bitterness, but never is Dr.Browne understated about his own inadequacies. A wonderful, frank and engaging autobiography. A five-star read.