Did Ye Hear Mammy Died?

A Memoir

By: Séamas O'Reilly

Narrated by: Séamas O'Reilly

A heart-warming and hilarious family memoir of growing up as one of eleven siblings raised by a single dad in Northern Ireland at the end of the Troubles.

Séamas O’Reilly’s mother died when he was five, leaving him, his ten (!) brothers and sisters, and their beloved father in their sprawling bungalow in rural Derry. It was the 1990s; the Troubles were a background rumble, but Séamas was more preoccupied with dinosaurs, Star Wars, and the actual location of heaven than the political climate. ­

An instant bestseller in Ireland, Did Ye Hear Mammy Died? is a book about a family of loud, argumentative, musical, sarcastic, grief-stricken siblings, shepherded into adulthood by a man whose foibles and reticence were matched only by his love for his children and his determination that they would flourish.

“In this joyous, wildly unconventional memoir, Séamas O'Reilly tells the story of losing his mother as a child and growing up with ten siblings in Northern Ireland during the final years of the Troubles as a raucous comedy, a grand caper that is absolutely bursting with life.”―Patrick Radden Keefe, NYT bestselling author of Say Nothing and Empire of Pain One of NPR’s Best Books of the Year

Incredibly Well Written!

I left Ireland as a child and now live in the US. The humor and cynicism in which the Irish tell stories is unsurpassed. The author is a fabulous wordsmith!

Raised by Dad Club

I’m really glad I listened to Seamus’s book. I also lost my mom to cancer as a child and I’ll be recommending it to my younger brothers, who were 5 and 2 at the time of her death. It’s a small club of us who were raised by single fathers and despite many differences in our families, there were also many similarities. Much love to Seamus and his family for sharing their story, grief, humor and healing.

Loved this

Thoughtful, funny, tender - really enjoyed the author reading his own material too. I really recommend this!

A wonderfully written heartfelt and heartwarming story

Thought I spent a fair amount of time, visiting Northern Ireland, and delighted in the many references and peculiar idiomatic speech, the story is one of universal appeal.

Sneaky funny and heartwarming

Some great storytelling in here of a colorful family. Loved the inside jokes and gallows humor that reminds me of my family. One downside was it was a little hard to hear with how softly the narrator/author speaks.