The Stolen Village

In June 1631 pirates from Algiers stormed ashore at the little harbour village of Baltimore in West Cork. They captured almost all the villagers and bore them away to a life of slavery in North Africa. The prisoners were destined for a variety of fates - some would live out their days as galley slaves, while others would spend long years in the scented seclusion of the harem. Only two of them ever saw Ireland again. The Sack of Baltimore was the most devastating invasion ever mounted by Islamist forces on Ireland or England. Des Ekin's exhaustive research illuminates the political intrigues that sealed the captives' fate, and provides insight into life amid the souks and seraglios of old Algiers.