Decluttering and Donkeys
with Author Susy Flory
Declutter with Kathi is going to Ireland!
Get in your 15 minutes and learn more than you would imagine about donkeys!
Sanctuary: The True Story of an Irish Village, a Man Who Lost His Way, and the Rescue Donkeys That Led Him Home
Patrick Barrett grew up on the back of a donkey. In the small village of Liscarroll, the young boy helped his family run a sanctuary for abandoned and abused donkeys. Struggling in school, Patrick only felt truly accepted in the presence of these funny, fuzzy, touching animals. It was like magic, how he and the donkeys understood each other. He became a true “donkey whisperer”?reading their body language, communicating with them in ways they could understand, and teaching himself how to “speak” in their distinctive calls.
But when Patrick was of age, he shipped out with the Irish Army and encountered unimaginable wartime horrors in Lebanon and Kosovo. In the aftermath, he returned home a broken man, sinking into the depths of PTSD and addictions. He believed nothing could save him. But he hadn’t counted on the donkeys.
Sanctuary is the remarkable true story of how faith turned one lost man’s life around with the help of the rescue animals who loved him. It’s an antidote to despair and a call to hope, revealing the beauty and wonder of Ireland as you’ve never seen it before.
ORDER SANCTUARY
More Posts
When it Needs to be a Simple Christmas
When it Needs to be a Simple Christmas This year we are doing “Simple Christmas” not because we want to create some more space in our lives, or we are intentionally making room to give more to the needy. This year it’s out of total necessity. As most of you know, two...
I’m Having Gastric Sleeve Surgery. Here’s What I Want to Tell You…
I'm Having Gastric Sleeve Surgery. Here's What I Want to Tell You... Tuesday morning, Roger and I will be at the hospital at 5:30 AM and I will be going in for the gastric sleeve surgery. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, check out the Wikipedia page.)...
What Do You Want to Get Done Before Christmas?
What Do You Want to Get Done Before Christmas? I am a list maker. I love a good list. As I'm sitting here making lists of things I want to get accomplished before the end of the year, one think looms heavy in my sight: Christmas. Don't get me wrong- I LOVE Christmas....
- #688 – Declutter Your Books in 15 Minutes a Shelf: Forever Shelf vs Flow Shelf for a Peaceful Library - September 23, 2025
- #687 – What’s Lurking Under Your Bed? Declutter the Forgotten Zone for Good - September 16, 2025
- #686 – Declutter Once and For All: Why Your Home’s Chaos Keeps Sneaking Back - September 9, 2025





Susy Flory is the New York Times bestselling author or co-author of sixteen books. She directs West Coast Christian Writers, is founder of Everything Memoir, and is in the final year of an MA in New Testament from Northern Seminary. Her book, The Unbreakable Boy, has been adapted for the screen and will release March, 2022, starring Patricia Heaton and Zachary Levi. Her most recent book. Sanctuary (Tyndale), co-authored with Patrick Barrett, is the true story of an Irish village, a man who lost his way, and the rescue donkeys that led him home, and launches March 15, 2022
For more from Susy, connect with her on Facebook and Instagram.
Download the first two chapters of Sanctuary
Listen to the first two chapters of Sanctuary