Never Know Your Place

Every young person is looking for freedom, but some have to fight harder than others.

In 1960s Ireland there was a special place for disabled children: behind the walls of an institution, cut off from the rest of society. At just nine years old, Martin Naughton was one of these children. Along with his younger sister Barbara he was sent to a Dublin institution, far away from his Irish-speaking home in Spiddal.

But Martin wouldn’t be sidelined. With the help of some unexpected characters – and an unlikely encounter with his Celtic Football heroes – he began to change the way a generation of young disabled people saw themselves. This is the story of a boy who not only won his own independence, but also led the fight for freedom for all disabled people.

Written with Joanna Marsden and with a foreword by Rosaleen McDonagh.