This book reviews Irish exile between 1615 and 1820 through the descendants of Sorley Boy MacDonnell, a warrior-chieftain of the sixteenth century, and their associates.

Part 1 covers the Spanish Netherlands. Captain Sorley, a nephew of Randall MacDonnell, the first Earl of Antrim, joined the O'Neill regiment in 1615. Involved in several invasion projects he also collected important bardic manuscripts. Two illegitimate sons of the first earl were also there: Daniel, a Franciscan at Louvain, and Maurice, a soldier involved in complex schemes concerning Scotland, Ireland and the Civil War.

Part II follows a family in France. In 1688 the first of these, a naval captain, smuggled James II to France in a fishing boat; one somewhat dissolute son aided the exiled Duke of Ormonde in several abortive Jacobite attempts, and another was one of the seven men to accompany Prince Charles to Scotland in 1745.

Part III covers 1710-1820 in Spain through the descendants of Daniel, an illegitimate son of the third Earl of Antrim. Randall, a general, campaigned in Italy and Morocco with his Irish regiments. His son, along with his friend Charles Wogan, tried to get their Irish Brigade to Scotland in 1745. Enrique Reynaldo, of the third generation, was an admiral who fought at Trafalgar and died a pauper.

An epilogue follows the MacDonnells in Austria, from the assassin of Wallenstein to one who fought for the papacy against Garibaldi.