Possibly 1937, the year this writer came into the world, including, as it did, the rape of Nanking and the murder of millions of Asians by the Japanese; or, perhaps, 1939 with its beginning of Hitler's holocaust and the murder of 6,000,000 Jews, together with uncounted Poles, Gypsies and Russians, were worse years than 2005.  And then there was 1918 and the deaths of so many millions in Europe and the Middle East in the final throes of World War I.  Or, if you prefer, you might consider 1650 and the beginning of Oliver Cromwell's persecution of the Irish, which was to kill millions as well.

        But I can not recall any year in history, since the time of Noah, in which there were so many, or such horrible natural disasters, or so much suffering from natural, rather than man-made, causes in one year.  So many Atlantic hurricanes were born that the list of potential names was exhausted.  The Indian Ocean Tsunami and the Pakistan Earthquake likewise exceed our reservoir of superlative adjectives.  So many contributions were required for disaster relief, that established charities are hard pressed.  And we can not disregard the war in Iraq, which has killed or maimed many thousands more.

        Although not directly impacted by any of these disasters, my own 2005 was a horrible year.  The last time that I had required hospitalization had been in 1957 when I had contracted double pneumonia pulling prolonged guard duty for three successive nights in bad weather.  But in December, 2004, when I could no longer see well enough to care for myself, and knowing that I was seriously ill as well, I went to the University Of Tennessee Medical Center Emergency Room on the insistence of my neighbor.  I was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer and, as if that weren't enough, I had cataracts in both eyes so severe that I was functionally blind.  So, in 2005, I submitted to months of radiation treatment, months of chemotherapy, and a total of eight surgeries, two major abdominal operations, three colonoscopies, a bladder scan and two cataract surgeries, before I was finally, on December 5, 2005, declared by my surgeon to be cancer free! I also now have 20/200 vision in one eye and corrected 20/20 in the other!

        I believe that conquering my cancer was truly a miracle.  Because of my poor financial situation, I had waited too long to seek treatment and my odds were not good.  But God still had a use for me.  I feel that I was allowed to spit in the eye of the devil.  Because of my doubtful prognosis, I felt compelled to try to disseminate my 25 years of research to the world while I still could.  This website and The MacDonnell Of Leinster Association, launched on May 5, in the middle of my radiation treatments, are therefore a direct result of my illness.  Otherwise, I would have continued my research and probably not have worried over much about publication.  Furthermore, after what I have been through, I have no fear, no personal ambition, no reservations or hesitancy that would inhibit me from speaking the whole truth, or standing up to any wrongdoer, or to advocating any right cause.  I have never in my life been so free!

        Two or three among the MacDonald chiefs and their feudal lackeys, as well as a few Republicans, have expressed the opinion that I wouldn't get very far, one characterizing my work as "vitriolic."  One Democrat sent us an e-mail telling us to go to hell because the Irish had persecuted his race.  I replied, asking him: "And what race would that be, boyo?"  But what do they know?  In less than ten months, we have had 3,411 visitors to our website, and more than a hundred complementary e-mails.  Membership is growing, as well as interest in new projects and, at the same time, we are having a lot of fun!  God has truly blessed me.

        Yes, 2005 has been a helluva year!