Story of the Great Irish Famine

What lies beneath?

The Great Irish Famine is a story that has been told for several generations and is the single most pivotal experience in modern Irish history. Now, acclaimed Irish illustrator David Rooney, through the evocative medium of scraperboard, scratches away at the detail of our shared history line by line, uncovering the collective memory that lies beneath us all.

David Rooney is an Irish illustrator working mainly in scraperboard, an engraving medium involving scratching away black ink from a chalk board surface using a surgical scalpel to reveal the white underneath. His work focusses mainly on cultural projects including the BBC’s Story of Ireland, Titanic Experience and King John’s Castle. His illustrations for the award-winning book 1916 Portraits and Lives were acquired by the OPW for the State and exhibited in Kilmainham Gaol as part of the centenary commemorations, before touring internationally. This is his first book for children.