Tread Softly in this Place is a novel set in the town of Ross, located in a remote part of rural Ireland, and written over the course of 1970/71 by the Irish-based author, Brian Cleeve.

[1] A year before the novel opens, Peadar and Matty Power, two elderly bachelor brothers, sold a portion of their land to Norwegian fish farmers.

Now, as news of the act of sabotage at the fish farm spreads through the community, fears grow that subversive elements were behind it and that outside investors will be discouraged.

He has found a job as a handyman at a local hotel owned by Hubert Kershaw, one of the diminishing number of Protestants still living in Ross.

Anxious to establish his credentials as a serious Republican, Ó Maelchonaire and his followers stage an attack on the local gaol in order to free Michael.

Aloysius "Gombeen" Mulcahy: Aged head of a powerful Catholic family, whose younger son Benedict is a government minister.

Seagrun Ó Maelchonaire: Leader of The Sons of Ireland, a local Republican paramilitary group In Tread Softly in this Place, Cleeve explores the effect of economic and political change on the various strands within the Irish population.

As such, they capture shifting Irish scenes, interweaving themes and subplots interspersed with social commentary and drawing a variety of vivid character portraits from fanatical communist and radical priest to itinerant tinker, posing artist, real estate tycoon, television commentator, or even small-town girl made good.

"[2] In his review of Tread Softly in this Place, noted man of letters, Benedict Kiely, highlighted the author's key strengths: "He has wit and understanding and a gift of phrase.