Originally presented as author's thesis (Masters)--Magee College, Derry, 1964.

Derry, 1689. An anonymous letter is read out saying that every last Protestant man, woman and child is to be murdered. Panic takes hold. Two teenage boys, Daniel and Robert Sherrard, help close the city gates against the approaching Catholic army. The siege has begun. Bombs rain down. Behind the walls, tensions grow day by day. Trapped, the people are injured, dying, starving. But there is no going back ... Daniel and Robert are drawn into a fight to the end. 'this fantastically written book will hook you from the start... this is historical fiction at its best.' The Guardian on City of Fate

[This book] continues the story begun in "Mister, are you a priest?" ... which focused on [Daly's] years as a curate in trhe Bogside during some of the most turbulent and dramatic years of the Northern Troubles. This new book covers his years as Bishop of Derry (1974-93) and his current work as chaplain to the Foyle Hospice in Derry. ..."--Back cover.

The Boys of St. Columb's chronicles the schooldays of eight illustrious alumni of St. Columb's College in Derry, Northern Ireland, and the political consequences of their education. A companion to a BBC/RTÉ documentary film, The Boys of St. Columb’s (2010), this book traces the first generation of children to receive free grammar school education as a result of the groundbreaking 1947 Education Act in the region. The boys were Bishop Edward Daly, SDLP leader and Nobel Peace Prize–winner John Hume, poet and Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney, critic Seamus Deane, diplomat James Sharkey, activist Eamonn McCann, and musicians Phil Coulter and Paul Brady. Maurice Fitzpatrick incorporates extensive interviews with this group of extraordinary figures five decades after they graduated, and their stories still resonate today with unique reflections on their backgrounds and their coming of age. The book’s historical relevance has continued to grow since it first appeared in 2010, and the narrative can be viewed in a new light as a result of the current political realities in the UK and Ireland.

THE SIEGE OF DERRY is one of the key flash points in the troubled history of Ireland and Britain. In 1688 William of Orange had claimed the English throne, forcing the catholic James II to flee to Ireland. From there he hoped to mount his comeback. In December of that year James' troops attempted to take over the protestant city of Derry. To the now-famous cry of 'No Surrender' the apprentice boys closed the city gates to James' army and the 105-day siege begun. The besiegers effectively used cannon and mortar to shell the defenders - with terrifying results - and conditions became desperate as the city began to run out of food. Carlo Gebler's book thrillingly describes both the events leading up to the siege and the heroic struggles within and outside Derry as the five-month battle waged.