“First of all, I don't come from a farming background,” she writes.

“My husband put all his money into the farm when I met him. According to him, his mother asked him to do the farm; according to her, my husband wanted to get out of his job and do farming. This was all arranged before I met him.

“I walked into this marriage with rose-tinted glasses thinking the more I do on the farm and the more I help, that they would help us with the next generation. I knew it was going to be tough; I just never knew it was going to be this hard.

“I learned to milk cows, feed calves etc. I saw the rest of his siblings get on with their lives, so after years of my husband putting all his money into the farm, we finally got our own place. All his mother could say was, “What would the neighbours think?” It got that bad before we moved out, I dreaded coming down the road. She would say, ‘Oh God, not you again.’ I asked loads of times, ‘What’s wrong?’ to be told it’s all in my head.

“We finally got married and not as much as one cent was given towards the wedding. That’s fine, but to be told I came into the marriage with my hands hanging down was wrong. I love my husband so much, but all of this puts pressure on our marriage.

“When we had our child, they never came near us to see the baby. When we came out of hospital, we went to show his parents, but there was no fuss, nothing. They are so good with other grandchildren, but mine is “too fat and hard work.”

“I have tried over and over again to find out what’s wrong, but all I see is she told my husband that he got the cows and no one else got anything, so therefore they are helping everyone else and we are not to be greedy or jealous. I have begged my husband to hand the farm back, but the way he looks at it, he put all his money into it.

“I moved to be with my husband and I hardly know anybody. I just don't know what else to do.

“Lonely Farmer’s Wife”

Miriam will share her advice in the next edition of Irish Country Living, but what would you do in this situation?