New book reveals what life was really like Leitrim women in the '60s

Mary Flood, a retired English teacher originally from Roscommon, has published her debut novel, To Love and Serve—a story shaped by her experiences, reflections during lockdown, and the cultural shifts she’s witnessed over decades.

“I’m a retired English teacher and examiner, now finding time to edit and finish all three novels,” Flood says. “To Love and Serve, just published, emanated from the COVID period when there was time to reflect and read.”

Set in the 1960s, the novel follows four Irish women—Olive, Della, Laura, and Margie—living under a system that placed heavy emphasis on duty, faith, and family. It draws on locations including Carrick-on-Shannon, Boyle, Sligo and Galway, but the central themes are national: young marriage, moral expectations, and the quiet resignation expected of women.

Flood doesn’t romanticise the past, but she questions what’s been gained and lost. “My novel shows how different times were,” she says. “I hope readers will judge whether they were better and more grounded in morals and beliefs—or the opposite.”

The novel was partly sparked by reading modern Irish authors like Sally Rooney and Marian Keyes during lockdown. “The modern liberated Irish woman reflects different, freer attitudes and customs than that of the ‘60s and ‘70s,” Flood says. “On the one hand, it has been culturally enriching, giving women independence and choices. On the other hand, I think some of the richness has been lost—with slack views on marriage and relationships, a hunger for wealth generated from EEC membership, and more.”

Before her marriage to JJ Flood of Strokestown, she worked in the Labour Exchange in Carrick-on-Shannon—an experience that informed several characters and scenes in the novel. The couple left Strokestown for Cheltenham in 1987, where she continued teaching until retirement.

Now living in the UK, Flood is focused on completing her remaining two novels. Her debut is less about nostalgia than it is about context—offering a close look at the rules and roles that shaped women’s lives in mid-century Ireland, and the ongoing conversation about freedom, values, and identity.

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