Seamus Sherlock

Tipperary farmer Seamus Sherlock realised a lifelong dream in 2002 when he bought his own farm in West Limerick. In August 2012, however, he was left devastated when he was issued with an eviction notice, having fallen behind on mortgage repayments a few years previously. He had lost the bog he worked following a 2008 EU directive to preserve a number of Irish bogs, resulting in almost 80% of his income being wiped out.

In a defiant stance against the bank, Seamus erected a barricade at Appletown Farm and for the next 350 days he and his five children were under 24-hour eviction notice.

Seamus and his family made national and international headlines over the course of their standoff and now, 10 years on from his ordeal and as he prepares to sell Appletwon Farm, Seamus shares his account of the toll that took on both himself and his children.

As well as documenting in stark, heart-breaking detail the fear and mental anguish he suffered for almost 12 months, never knowing if or when he and his children would be evicted, Seamus also talks about the support he received from friends and strangers alike; the abuse he got from others and how he soon discovered that so many other people were in the same desperate financial difficulty - some who unfortunately have since taken their own lives. He recalls how he believed he would die protecting his farm and how he often said goodbye to his children without them even knowing it.

The book details how Seamus fell behind in his repayments in the first place, his efforts to restructure his loan, his own suicidal thoughts and his ultimate pride and overwhelming relief when a deal was made with the bank after 350 days behind the barricade.

While Seamus has given many interviews to the press during and after his ordeal, this is the first time he has spoken so frankly and in so much detail about what he says was a year of hell on earth.