'Dumbreck: A Private Inquiry'
has been published to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Dumbreck mining disaster of 30 January 1938, in which nine miners from Kilsyth and surrounding villages were killed.
Written by Matt O'Neill, a nephew of one of the deceased, Edward O'Neill, the book searches behind the formal enquiry into the deaths of the miners. It explores the reasons for the disaster and sets out the pain and heroism of a local community as they come to terms with their grief.
Writing in his Foreword, Matt O'Neill explains: "This personal inquiry into the 1938 Dumbreck disaster contains no relevant omissions and seeks only to answer those questions, which if ever asked, brought for the most part only unsatisfactory answers. What really happened that day? Why did it happen? Could it have been avoided? Who, or what, was to blame? And in reply to those who politely asked why I bothered after all those years, the answer was simple. I did it for my mother and Uncle Eddie, and for the others who never came home. In the days and weeks that followed the disaster everyone had an opinion, and they were not afraid to voice it. Eddie and his friends never got that chance".