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Mairin Johnston
Irish author. Born in 1931 in the Liberties in Dublin. Has written in both the feminist and social history spheres, including a book about Dublin women, Dublin Belles, which is probably her best known work to date.
She has written only one children's novel as far as I know, which is a pony story. It is a well-written although slightly harrowing story about a young girl's attempt to stop the live export of horses for meat from Ireland to the Continent. This was big business by the 1940s, with a huge number of the country's horses and donkeys being bought up by businessmen eager to make a quick profit. In fact so rapid was the turnover of the animals that the business became dubbed 'The Pony Express.' Not only were there objections on humane grounds to this practice because of the terrible conditions the animals had to endure, but also Irish farmers who could not use tractors were rapidly running out of working horses as they could not compete with the meat prices! The book is centred upon the real-life attempt to stop this cruel and greedy practice, with the young heroine being caught up in historic events of the time.
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