Growing up a Jehovah’s Witness in rural Co Tipperary was not your typical Irish childhood.
Weekends spend proselytising, no Christmas or birthdays and very little interaction with the world beyond the community meant Trish Bourke was a very sheltered teenager when she was groomed by an older man.
In her book UnWitnessed, Trish writes movingly about her steps away from the faith that shaped her, the predatory relationship she fell into and a termination she went through as a result, and her eventual discovery of her place in the world.
From being called a murderer by her devout family, and a loving but sexless marriage to teaching computer literacy to Martin Sheen, her story is full of twists, turns and contradictions.
Trish Bourke is today’s guest on The Deirdre O’Shaughnessy Podcast. Her book, UnWitnessed, is published by Menma Books and available at unwitnessed.net.
","author_name":"Irish Examiner"}