[2] The novel tells the story of three siblings, Mary Ellen (Eily), Michael and Margaret (Peggy) O'Driscoll, who live in a small cottage in their home district of Duneen.

Their father has gone to find work on the famine roads, and the children and their mother struggle each day, barely getting enough food to survive.

The journey ahead is dangerous and the children are weak, but they are determined to make it to Castletaggart where their aunts are living and running a bakery.

Under the Hawthorn Tree received the Children's and Young Adult's Book Award for Older Reader Category in 1991.

[4] The book, originally written in English, has been translated into Irish, French, Dutch, German, Spanish, Danish, Swedish, Italian, Japanese, Persian, Malay, Arabic and Korean.