The Lost Ones

Previously published as Little Drifters.


The harrowing true story of a travelling Irish family bonded by love, broken apart by life, and then betrayed by their carers in a cruel convent in Ireland.


‘For those who we lost along the way, I tell this story. For all the children who suffered in this terrible place. For all those I consider my brothers and sisters; the ones who died, the ones who lost their minds, the ones who drown their memories everyday in a bottle of whisky, I tell this for you.


Because in the end we are all brothers and sisters – and if we don’t feel that bond of love between each other, just as human beings, then we are nothing. We are no better than the monsters that ran the convents.’


Kathleen O’Shea grew up in Ireland in the 1960s, amongst extreme hardship and suffering. She and her siblings were abandoned by their mother and torn from their father, incarcerated in convents and driven apart in the cruellest ways imaginable.


The Lost Ones is the story of their ruined childhoods and relentless fight for justice. It is a tale of courage, survival and incredible strength against overwhelming adversities.


Out of terrible darkness comes a remarkable journey. In the tradition of Irish storytelling, Kathleen offers a mesmerising account of her family’s experience.