These writings are loving evocations of a childhood spent in Donegal. They capture the innocence of that time, its sudden and compelling enthusiasms, its sadness and silences, its pleasures and dismays, and, above all, the rare gift of having been brought up in a small loving  community. These are accurately drawn pictures, but they also act as evocations of a warm  community as memory does its magical work of transformation    
Professor Robert Welch: University of Ulster

Hazel is a good storyteller. She carries the reader along with her adding to what might  seem a common experience, a special quality. Her sensitivity, her imagination and her empathy give to each episode a deep and wide element of perception. Like a laser beam she enters deeply into the human psyche. Here is a book one can recommend whole-heartedly to everyone interested in human nature in all its moods. 
Brian Bonner: Author and Historian                                               

Her first book ‘Iron Wheels On Rocky Lanes’ recalling her Donegal childhood, was published in 1994 to outstanding critical ovation. The following are just a sample of what the newspaper critics had to say.

"The cozy friendly style in which hazel writes takes you into her world with such ease and confidence thatyou almost feel you know the events intimately. Humor, sadness, happy days, it’s all there and more. An excellent read."
Conny Duffy - Donegal Democrat

"Her accounts, drawn from the everyday experiences of childhood are touching and moving, the prose evocative and lively. It is a tribute to Hazel McIntyre’s talent that her accounts are deeply poignant one moment yet heart-warming and uplifting the next. It is to be highly recommended."
Robert Love - Donegal People’s Press and Irish News.

"Hazel captures the innocence of the age as she grew up in the Donegal of the fifties The most charming and entertaining of the present books of the same genre currently on the Market."
Roy Winter - Telegraph.

"Hazel’s tales and memories are written in a straightforward way, giving the work a personal touch. There are however plenty of twists and turns in the comic yet touching stories. It’s a most enjoyable read, further enhanced by some thought-provoking-poetry."
 John Bradbery - The Irish News                                                                      

"Don’t forget reading for yourself yarns like the one, in that age of respect for the professional man, when the new doctor tentatively pronounced as dead a man who had fallen from a ladder; the supine victim was of a different opinion and groaned. "I’m not dead," only to be put firmly in his place by a bystander. "Oh, will you shut up. do you thing you know better than the doctor?

"These pieces are innocent and warm, sometimes reflectively sad and always filled with love."
Terry Sharkie - News Letter
‘Iron Wheels on Rocky Lanes’ also received an outstanding review and recommendation on the ‘Gay Byrne Show’ RTE.
Second level students in Ireland have used her writings as a textbook, and she has followed this up by giving talks to the students.