Dean Emeritus and Norris Professor of Law John D. Feerick ’61 shared an excerpt from his memoir That Further Shore in The Irish Echo.
“That Further Shore” is a grandfather’s story that recounts my life and the lives of my parents, Mary Jane Boyle and John Feerick. The title is taken from Seamus Heaney’s, “The Cure at Troy,” a play about a path to peace and a hopeful future.
Below the title, on the cover, in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty, is a picture of my parents, along with me and my two brothers, as I graduated from grammar school. The story told is our story. Our story is one that mirrors the experiences of countless other immigrants who made profound sacrifices on behalf of generations to come.
My quest for a deeper understanding of my family’s origins took me to Ireland in the late 1980s. I visited the villages of my mother’s and father’s youth and met Irish relatives.