Ireland's Misfortune

"Elisabeth Kehoe's vivid biography introduces us to a woman who bears little relation to her reputation as home-wrecker and historical catastrophe. Combining rigorous research with an intimate understanding of her subject, Kehoe recreates the boisterous character and courageous actions of a vastly underestimated woman. From this book emerges, for the first time, the real Katie O'Shea: a gifted woman, bound by very considerable financial and social restrictions, who none the less influenced the politics of her time with an acuity and sensitivity sorely lacking in her Irish lover."--BOOK JACKET.