When Margaret Dempsey, daughter of a prosperous town merchant, falls in love with Michael Carty, son of a Fenian farmer, her family strongly disapprove. Bound closer by adversity, the couple enter their married life idealistic, yet innocent.

Soon, however, their idyll is threatened, as Michael finds himself drawn into the struggle for Irish independence. Revolutionary movements bring the outside world crashing in on them, threatening all they hold dear.

In 1916, Margaret fights to keep their growing family safe against the odds. Told in prose of extraordinary clarity, The Rising is a profoundly moving love story that delves deep into the mindset of Irish Republicanism, along with the complex social relationships of town and country during that era. An engrossing account of family, memory, history and belonging.