Ireland: True Stories of Life on the Emerald Isle

I am giving one less star than the other commentators here not out of contrariness but simply to let readers know of the very uneven quality of the 44 entries, most of which are excerpts from longer works by established writers, although a minority appear to be written for this anthology. Not to say that the latter suffer necessarily; the best essay in here, and the only one that examines the other side of the tourist's encounter, is Janine Jones' "Tea With Mr. Curtain." Jones ponders what to do when the more unsavory side of a revered local man is revealed to apparently only her "privileged" view as a visitor. She opts for reticence rather than revealing his secret side to the rest of the village that she will soon leave but he never will. The familiar authors mingle with the unknown, and to the editors' credit, they offset their knowingly but fulsomely lavish encomium of the oul' sod's charm prefacing this collection with a final section highlighting the shadowy scandals of an Ireland beyond the postcard views too often limiting many of the writers here included. The best sections are this last portion, for its frankness, and the beginning that in its "Essence of Ireland" does set out neatly such observant scenes as that of a kayaker, Brian Wilson, who finds his moored craft suddenly whisked away under the local Conamara customs of flotsam and jetsam belonging to those who live by the sea's bounty; Rosemary Mahoney's look (from her excellent "Whoredom in Kimmage: Irish Women Coming of Age") at how the Legion of Mary's volunteers work in inner-city Dublin; David Blaker's decision to call himself a Jew when hitching rides in the North to avoid uneasy conversations; and David W. McFadden's meeting with an amateur archeologist in the Tipperary town of Cahir. The second section is most disappointing: the contributors are either too blase or mundane about their activities, or what they report matters little to engage the imagination of the reader. Valuable essays in part three about destinations are those of Katharine Scherman on Skellig Micheal; poitin-making by John McLaughlin; Thomas Flanagan on the real Mayo that inspired his "Year of the French" novel; and Jonathan Harrington's brief but moving tale of finding and meeting distant relatives one uncomfortable night. In the last section, Scott Anderson exposes the racketeering and an even more dangerous climate of intimidation that because of its underground impact on both sides of the sectarian divide has followed the decline in paramilitary violence; Martin Dillon gives a literally awful anecdote from his "God and the Gun" about a priest forced to hear the confession of a man the IRA is about to execute; Fintan O'Toole offers a typically nuanced examination of the Bishop Casey-Annie Murphy scandal. The listings at the back, with succinct advice for tourists, are helpful and cogent, if by now of course dated a bit. The bibliography is well-chosen. Finally, sidebars in the text give addition

I really enjoyed this book on Travler's tales from Ireland. It had some great stories. You really got to know about the country, and it's people from reading this. I highly recommend it.

This book consists of a wide variety of stories from the humourous to the profound to the historical. There are stories that you want to sit down with a friend and read it to them: specically, "A Pub Fairy Tale" by Pamela Ramsey tells of a visit to an Irish pub by the author who wanted to take in the "ambiance" of the music and dancing. She hoped that she would be asked to dance, but as closing time drew near, her hopes seemed slim. Then an energetic old gentleman finally asked her, and she describes it this way: "I could feel the other dancers watching us, nodding, laughing, giving us encouragement, but the old man and I had eyes only for each other. We were two odd strangers caught in a moment of tenderness. A moment of magic. I was Cinderella, the belle of the ball, dancing with my Prince - an old, almost-blind man, wearing a black beret." Beautiful. Another story tells of the estrangement of a son and his father when he married outside the faith, and how, when the father died, a reconciliation of sorts was established with his brother with they go hiking on the hills where there father had hiked with them, and how he came to understand his father's secret strength and connection with the isle: "Walking the Kerry Way", by Tim O'Reilly. This brief description of Mr. O'Reilly's story does it a gross injustice, because there is a depth of feeling that only the author can convey. The brief biographical descriptions at the end of each story are informative and to the point. At the end of the book, there is an extensive, "The Next Step" which includes a number of websites, and a good bibliography. The book is well put together, and succeeds very well in conveying "true stories of life on the emerald isle."

Like other books in the Travelers Tales series - this book gives excellent insight into the Irish way of life and provides excellent reading (I am slightly biased, having written one of the short pieces that is included - titled Cycling to Dun Aengus). The overall quality of the book is excellent and the descriptions pull you right into the landscape and geography of Ireland - from sitting in smoky pubs to driving past weather beaten coasts. Some of these pieces are also hilarious. Highly recommended not only as a prerequisite to a visit - but for a great read. [email protected]

I'm on my way to Ireland in a few days. This is just a note to say that I found this book on Ireland, to my surprise as so many nice things can be, enormously sensitive and moving and classy. Classy because the type style, the paper stock, and the interior arrangement of the stories and back-of-the-book tips and advice show a lot of editorial thought, being so well done. I was deeply moved by the selection of the tales, each its own chapter, and I definitely felt a sense of coming to know Ireland in a way no other book I could buy would bring me. Lots of laughter and tears and thoughts arriving as I stared out a window, enveloping the mood of a story I'd just finished. They were wonderfully written for me, to my standards, which are impossibly high -- I admire the best, even if I can't write at that level -- and overall I sensed that the editing was careful, thoughtful. There'd been plenty of work put into this volume. The end of the book with all the tips was very enjoyable, and I've read it through twice so far as I sense it will all come true for me, all prove to be good advice, on this, my first trip to Ireland.