Michael Mannion

Erin's Daughters Michael Mannion

A YOUNG WOMAN DETERMINED TO LIVE FREE

From the start, Colleen was observant, curious, searching. She had a sparkling glow about her. In her teen years, she yearned to break free from her strict Irish Catholic upbringing, to be independent, to love and be loved. In 1959, she became pregnant at age 16. Only her beloved grandmother stood by her.

Colleen was never a "rebel without a cause." She struggled to understand who she was and what Life was all about. She loved learning and expressed herself through music and singing. In the freedom of the 1960s, she created a new life for herself and her daughter. Colleen moved to California, becoming active in the Free Speech Movement, the Peace Movement, and the Human Potential Movement. She was part of the revolutionary changes in personal and social life brought on by the counterculture.

But in the late 1960s, the United States took a sharp turn to the right. Many of the advances of "The 60s" did not survive. Colleen left California and returned to New York City.

The years in New York were a period of profound difficulty for Colleen. She gradually became discouraged, lost. Those who loved her deeply worried about her. They did not know if Colleen would survive...neither did she.

This is her story.