She is a frequent contributor to Irish America Magazine and has a PhD in English and Irish literature. She's been an associate producer on Good Morning America and Saturday Night Live, written books on Martin Scorsese, World War II, and Bosnia, and a novel based on her experiences as a former nun - Special Intentions.

In the author's colorful and eclectic life, she has written and directed award-winning documentaries on Irish subjects, as well as the dramatic feature Proud. This heroic story sheds brilliant light on the ancestors of today's 44 million Irish Americans. The Bay is her home and her family's livelihood since her father is a fisherman in the village of Bearna. Honora and her unconventional sister Maire watch their seven sons as they transform Chicago from a frontier town to the 'City of the Century', fight the Civil War, and enlist in the cause of Ireland's freedom. Review: Galway Bay by Mary Pat Kelly At sunrise on June 23, 1839, her sister Maire's wedding day, Honora Keeley stands on the Silver Strand of Galway Bay and gazes out. The family joins two million other Irish refugees in one of the greatest rescues in human history: the Irish Emigration to America. Against landscapes beautiful and bleak she brings her.

But its her exploration of the human heart that moves you. 'After reading her novel, Galway Bay, you might wonder if Mary Pat Kelly knows everything about 19th century Ireland, the Great Famine, and the emigrant experience in America. Honora and Michael vow their children will live. One family’s epic journey captures both the tragedy and triumph of the Irish-American experienceand echoes the myths and legends of Ireland herself. Galway Bay (9780446697101) by Mary Pat Kelly. But when blight destroys the potatoes three times in four years, a callous government and uncaring landlords turn a natural disaster into The Great Starvation that will kill one million. Selling both their catch-and their crops-to survive, these people subsist on the potato crop-their only staple food. In a rousing tale that echoes the myths and legends of Ireland herself, young Honora Keeley and Michael Kelly wed and start a family, inhabiting a hidden Ireland where fishermen and tenant farmers find solace in their ancient faith, songs, stories, and communal celebrations. Here at last is one Irish family's epic journey, capturing the tragedy and triumph of the Irish-American experience.