Patrick C. Rice

There are many reasons as to why it took me till recently to write Lonestray Survivor. Firstly I was content to live in denial of my early life in Ireland. I knew no other life up to the age of sixteen other than life in State custody. On release I was uneducated, emotionally barren and under developed. There was a great deal of shame attached to have 'served time' in the unconventional all male Irish Industrial School system. In addition I lacked the simple knowledge of every day life in the outside world, such as celebrating birthdays: giving and receiving presents and speaking to a girl!

In the past two years when diagnosed with stomach cancer I decided to research the circumstances that led to a lost childhood. In the interest of my family and to attempt closure on my past, I decided to write the story of my survival both in incarceration and after.

To say my research unearthed surprises would be a master understatement The cruelty and lies used by the Church State to convict a two year old child in a court of law, with 'receiving alms' and sentencing him to fourteen years detention are outlined in the book. In addition to being detained all contact between child and family was denied, resulting in the child believing he was 'nobodies child'. Decades later I discover that my father spent years fighting for my release, but to no avail. The story is part of Irish social history.

This is a true story not only of survival but of success in achieving a long held dream in spite of family tragedies along the way.