A National Book Award Finalist: "One of the most life-affirming books I have read in a long time…brims with humanity, irreverence, and invigorating candor." —Tom Vanderbilt, The Nation

"Every year I bury a couple hundred of my townspeople." So opens this singular and wise testimony. Like all poets, inspired by death, Thomas Lynch is, unlike others, also hired to bury the dead or to cremate them and to tend to their families in a small Michigan town where he serves as the funeral director.

In the conduct of these duties he has kept his eyes open, his ear tuned to the indispensable vernaculars of love and grief. In these twelve pieces his is the voice of both witness and functionary. Here, Lynch, poet to the dying, names the hurts and whispers the condolences and shapes the questions posed by this familiar mystery. So here is homage to parents who have died and to children who shouldn't have. Here are golfers tripping over grave markers, gourmands and hypochondriacs, lovers and suicides. These are the lessons for life our mortality teaches us.

Masterful essays that illuminate not only how we die but also how we live. Thomas Lynch, poet, funeral director, and author of the highly praised The Undertaking, winner of an American Book Award and finalist for the National Book Award, continues to examine the relations between the "literary and mortuary arts." "Lynch engages the reader with a mixture of poetic and funerary elements....his voice is rich and generous."—Richard Bernstein, New York Times "[W]hat makes him such a fine essayist is that it's just the business of everyday life and death to him."—Los Angeles Times Book Review "Few readers will walk away from this volume less than stunned and grateful."—Jay Parini, author of Benjamin's Crossing "A luminous work of words."—Nicholas Delbanco, author of What Remains

"Before long I began to understand that showing up, being there, helping in an otherwise helpless situation was made heroic by the same gravity I had sensed when I first stood in that embalming room as a boy„the presence of the dead made the presence of the living more meaningful somehow, as if it involved a basic and intuitively human duty to witness."
„from Chapter 1, "How We Come to Be the Ones We Are"

Two of the most authoritative voices on the funeral industry come together here in one volume to discuss the current state of the funeral. Through their different lenses„one as a preacher and one as a funeral director„Thomas G. Long and Thomas Lynch alternately discuss several challenges facing "the good funeral," including the commercial aspects that have led many to be suspicious of funeral directors, the sometimes tense relationship between pastors and funeral directors, the tendency of modern funerals to exclude the body from the service, and the rapid growth in cremation. The book features forewords from Patrick Lynch, President of the National Funeral Directors Association, and Barbara Brown Taylor, highly praised author and preacher. It is an essential resource for funeral directors, morticians, and pastors, and anyone else with an interest in current funeral practices.

 

In Still Life in Milford, Lynch casts the cold eye we are told to on life and death, history and memory, the local and the larger geographics. Examining the dynamics of faith, remembrance, and intimate conduct, these poems are informed by end times, tribulations and visions that make up the ordinary enterprise of daily life.

Colloquy and narrative, soliloquy and tribute, Still Life in Milford engages the full register of the poet's voices as elegist, eulogist, obituarist, straight man and passer-by to achieve a difficult and inimitable harmony.

Two of the most authoritative voices on the funeral industry come together here in one volume to discuss the current state of the funeral. Through their different lenses--one as a preacher and one as a funeral director--Thomas G. Long and Thomas Lynch alternately discuss several challenges facing "the good funeral," including the commercial aspects that have led many to be suspicious of funeral directors, the sometimes tense relationship between pastors and funeral directors, the tendency of modern funerals to exclude the body from the service, and the rapid growth in cremation. The book features forewords from Patrick Lynch, President of the National Funeral Directors Association, and Barbara Brown Taylor, highly praised author and preacher. It is an essential resource for funeral directors, morticians, and pastors, and anyone else interested in current funeral practices.

"Lynch has added another chapter to one of the most memorable records in American letters."—William Giraldi, New York Times Book Review These stories are linked by the gone and not forgotten: former spouses, dead parents, missing children. Lynch creates a world in which people searching for connection and old comforts find them both near at hand and oddly out of reach.

Written by locals, Fodor's travel guides have been offering expert advice for all tastes and budgets for 80 years. 

With an array of dazzling photographs, this book deftly guides the traveler through all the sights and experiences--from Connemara to Georgian Dublin to pub culture to Irish dance--that make the Emerald Isle one of Europe's most popular destinations.

This travel guide includes:
· Dozens of full-color maps
· Hundreds of hotel and restaurant recommendations, with Fodor's Choice designating our top picks
· Multiple itineraries to explore the top attractions and what’s off the beaten path
· Major sights such as The Rock of Cashel, The Giant's Causeway, Newgrange, Book of Kells, The Blarney Stone, Ring of Kerry, and Aran Islands
· Coverage of Dublin and environs; The Midlands; The Southeast; County Cork; The Southwest; County Clare, Galway City, and the Aran Islands; Connemara and County Mayo; The Northwest and Northern Ireland

Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher

Discover the freedom of open roads while touring Ireland with Lonely Planet's Ireland's Best Trips, your passport to up-to-date advice on unique experiences that await you along Ireland's roadways. Featuring 34 amazing road trips, from 2-day escapes to 2-week adventures, you can follow the exquisite peninsular coastlines of the southwest or cruise the sunny undulating hills of the southeast and more, all with your trusted travel companion. Get to Ireland, rent a car, and hit the road!

Inside Lonely Planet's Ireland's Best Trips:

Lavish colour and gorgeous photography throughout Itineraries and planning advice to pick the right tailored routes for your needs and interests Get around easily - 81 easy-to-read, full-colour route maps, detailed directions Free, convenient pull-out Ireland road map (included in print version) Insider tips to get around like a local, avoid trouble spots and be safe on the road - local driving rules, parking, toll roads Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, prices, and Irish road signs key Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss Useful features - including Driving Problem Buster, Detours, and Link Your Trip Covers Dublin, Ennis, Cork, Galway, Belfast, the Dingle Peninsula, Wexford, Waterford, Killarney, Limerick, Westport, Tralee, Kenmare, Ring of Kerry, Connemara, Glendalough, Doolin, Derry, Bangor and more

The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet's Ireland 's Best Trips is perfect for exploring Ireland via the road and discovering sights that are more accessible by car.

Planning an Irish trip sans a car? Lonely Planet's Ireland guide, our most comprehensive guide to Ireland is perfect for exploring both top sights and lesser-known gems. Looking for just the highlights of Ireland? Check out Discover Ireland, a photo-rich guide to the country's most popular attractions. Looking for a guide focused on Dublin? Check out Lonely Planet's Dublin guide for a comprehensive look at all the city has to offer.

There's More in Store for You:

See more of Europe's picturesque country sides and have a richer, more authentic experience by exploring Europe by car with Lonely Planet's European Best Trips guides to Italy and France. Or start with our FREE SAMPLER 'Europe's Best Trips: 3 Amazing Road Trips, ' with excerpts from each guide to help you pick which region to explore first. Also, check out Lonely Planet's USA Best Trips guides to USA, California, New England, Southwest USA, New York & the Mid-Atlantic, Florida & the South, and The Pacific Northwest and our FREE SAMPLER 'USA's Best Trips: 7 Amazing Road Trips' for more road trip inspiration.

Authors: Written and researched by Lonely Planet, Fionn Davenport, Belinda Dixon, Catherine Le Nevez and Oda O'Carroll.

About Lonely Planet: Since 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel media company with guidebooks to every destination, an award-winning website, mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet covers must-see spots but also enables curious travellers to get off beaten paths to understand more of the culture of the places in which they find themselves.

An epic Celtic sojourn in search of ancestors, nostalgia, and the world?s greatest round of golf

In his thirties, married, and staring down impending fatherhood, Tom Coyne was well familiar with the last refuge of the adult male: the golfing trip. Intent on designing a golf trip to end all others, Coyne looked to Ireland, the place where his father had taught him to love the game years before. As he studied a map of the island and plotted his itinerary, it dawned on Coyne that Ireland was ringed with golf holes. The country began to look like one giant round of golf, so Coyne packed up his clubs and set off to play all of it. And since Irish golfers didn?t take golf carts, neither would he. He would walk the entire way.

A Course Called Ireland is the story of a walking- averse golfer who treks his way around an entire country, spending sixteen weeks playing every seaside hole in Ireland and often battling through all four seasons in one Irish afternoon. Coyne plays everything from the top-ranked links in the world to nine-hole courses crowded with livestock. Along the way, he searches out his family?s roots, discovers that a once-poor country has been transformed by an economic boom, and finds that the only thing tougher to escape than Irish sand traps are Irish pubs. By turns hilarious and poetic, A Course Called Ireland is a magnificent tour of a vibrant land and a paean to the world?s greatest game.

An "eloquent (and compulsively readable) reminder that, though we're laying waste the world, nature still holds sway over much of the earth's surface." --Bill McKibben

Winner of the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature and a finalist for the Orion Book Award

Are there any genuinely wild places left in Britain and Ireland? That is the question that Robert Macfarlane poses to himself as he embarks on a series of breathtaking journeys through some of the archipelago's most remarkable landscapes. He climbs, walks, and swims by day and spends his nights sleeping on cliff-tops and in ancient meadows and wildwoods. With elegance and passion he entwines history, memory, and landscape in a bewitching evocation of wildness and its vital importance.

There are few places on earth that compare to Ireland. From breathtaking landscapes to a unique culture steeped in history, Ireland is a tourist's ultimate destination. This guide features expert tips for you to get the most out of your trip to Ireland, including:
Transportation, lodging, customs, and emergency adviceThe scoop on cultural attractions in all major cities (and in the country!)The best dining and shopping experiences for any budgetWhere to find traditional pubs and cutting-edge clubsHow to take a genealogical tour in Ireland
If you want to know Everything about traveling in the country of cottages and castles, limericks and literature, cozy pubs and exciting nightlife, then this is the easy and insightful guide you've been searching for.

When the Celts first arrived in Ireland around 200 B.C., the island had already been inhabited for over 7000 years. Drawing on a wealth of archaeological evidence and the author's own mastery of the subject, Ancient Ireland returns to those pre-Celtic roots in a bid to discover the secrets of the island's first inhabitants: Who were they? And how did they live?

Few accounts of the period are as exhaustively researched; fewer still are as alive with historical insight and compelling detail. At once accessible and comprehensive, Ancient Ireland is an indispensable guide to early Irish civilisation, its culture and mythology.

Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher

Discover the freedom of open roads with Lonely Planet Ireland's Classic Trips. We've chosen eight of our all-time favorite road trips that showcase the best Ireland has to offer, thrown in up-to-date stretch-your-legs guides to Dublin, Cork, Galway, Kilkenny, and Belfast, and provided essential road trip information to get you cruising. Clip clop in a traditional horse-drawn jaunting car, enjoy the legendary nightlife that has inspired musicians and artists, or soak amid therapeutic seaweed at an Edwardian spa, all with your trusted travel companion.

Inside Lonely Planet Ireland's Classic Trips:

Lavish colour and gorgeous photography throughout Itineraries and planning advice to pick the right tailored routes for your needs and interests - there's a trip for family travellers, history buffs, culinary connoisseurs, outdoor adventurers Get around easily - easy-to-read, full-colour route maps, detailed directions Insider tips to get around like a local, avoid trouble spots and be safe on the road - hiring a car, fuelling up, local driving rules, parking, toll roads, road conditions, licenses, insurance, language tool Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, prices Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, hidden gems most guidebooks miss Useful features - including Detours, Walking Tours and Road Trip Essentials Covers Dublin, Cork, Galyway, Belfast, Derry, Clare, Roundstone, Killarney, Limerick, Ligo, Mayo.

Classic Trips Included:

The Long Way Round: Ireland's crenellate coastlines, vibrant port cities and island treasures The North in a Nutshell: Big cities, big-name sights, hidden beaches, tiny islands-an epic drive Best of the West: The ultimate tour of Ireland's best westerly sights Musical Landscapes: A ride round County Clare's hottest trad music spots Ireland's Highlights: The best of Ireland's five-star cultural and natural attractions Tip to Toe: The ultimate pan-Irish experience Southwest Blitz: The best of the southwest coast, countryside and cosmopolitan city life Ring of Kerry: Pass jaw-dropping scenery as you circumnavigate the Iveragh Peninsula

The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet Ireland's Classic Trips is perfect for those planning that once-in-a-lifetime trip which includes a taste of all that makes Ireland so beloved.

About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the world’s number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveler since 1973. Over the past four decades, we’ve printed over 145 million guidebooks and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travelers. You’ll also find our content online, and in mobile apps, video, 14 languages, nine international magazines, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more.

Important Notice: The digital edition of this book may not contain all of the images found in the physical edition.

We're all just a wee bit Irish, don't you think? Indeed, some 40 million Americans claim Irish ancestry, and many more than that line the streets each March in leprechaun hats, green beer in hand, declaring "Kiss me, I'm Irish!" But what, exactly, does it mean to be Irish? Consider The Little Green Book of Blarney your very own pot of gold, a treasure trove of facts and wisdom about the Emerald Isle, its people, and our collective Irish past. You'll explore Irish history, culture, and literature, as well as folklore and fun. And that's no blarney! A great book for St. Patrick's Day!

Kevin O'Hara's journey of self-discovery begins as a mad lark: who in their right mind would try to circle the entire coastline of Ireland on foot—and with a donkey and cart no less?

But Kevin had promised his homesick Irish mother that he would explore the whole of the Old Country and bring back the sights and the stories to their home in Massachusetts. Determined to reach his grandmother's village by Christmas Eve, Kevin and his stubborn but endearing donkey, Missie, set off on 1800-mile trek along the entire jagged coast of a divided Ireland.

Their rollicking adventure takes them over mountains and dales, through smoky cities and sleepy villages, and into the farmhouses and hearts of Ireland's greatest resource—its people.

Along the way, Kevin would meet incredible characters, experience Ireland in all of its glory, and explore not only his Irish past, but find his future self.

“One of the finest books about contemporary Ireland ever written...In a style evocative of Steinbeck's Travels with Charley, O'Hara writes memorably of his most unusual way of touring his ancestral home of Ireland.” —Library Journal

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

When the wind is from the north the old woman manages my meals with fair regularity; but on the other days she often makes my tea at three o'clock instead of six. If I refuse it she puts it down to simmer for three hours in the turf, and then brings it in at six o'clock full of anxiety to know if it is warm enough....The general ignorance of any precise hours in the day makes it impossible for the people to have regular meals.-from The Aran IslandsAt the behest of William Butler Years, whom he met in Paris during his bohemian sojourn there, JOHN MILLINGTON SYNGE (1871-1909) traveled to the remote Irish Aran Islands for part of every summer from 1898 to 1902. The native Dubliner was seeking the hidden treasures of his native land, and he found the inspiration for the plays that would see his name live in posterity, including 1907's The Playboy of the Western World.This beautifully revealing 1906 work is Synge's journal of his time in the primitive Arans and among its hale, stalwart inhabitants. From the folktales of the Aran people to the quirks of their Gaelic-tinged English, from the pagan remnants that inflect their rough Christianity to the coarse monotony of their diet, Synge celebrates the simplicity of life in the Arans but never romanticizes it. These are the people who sparked Synge's imagination so strongly that all his plays reflect their hopes, their dreams, and their tragedies.

Wanna have an evergreen travel experience?
Welcome to Ireland, the territory of history and mysteries!Do you think you know all about cottages, Irish castles and Saint Patrick?Dublin, the capital, has nothing more to hide because you are a true Leprechaun? You bet!Our Travel eGuide will definitely change your mind.Discover this country at your own pace and browse by photos, places or hobbies :-)

We have been traveling all around the world since our studenthood and have visited more than 45 countries so far. We love to find convenient and affordable travel solutions in order to maximize our touristic budget and discover hidden treasures during the journey, just like you! We are happy to offer you a UDEMY COURSE included with our tips & tricks to travel without ruining yourself.

Prepare and live your holidays... differently!

In this innovative Travel eGuide, a vitaminized additive to other tourist guides, we will share with you our passion for travel and our discoveries made on the roads and towns of Ireland. Discover this marvellous country full of mysteries, gorgeous landscapes, beautiful monasteries and magnificent castles reminding history, picturesque and colourful villages full of live with welcoming people and a music that will charm your ears :-)

So, if you do not know where to spend the next holidays, why not pay a visit for a few days to this wonderful island? All its treasures are waiting for you!

With this responsive eGuide, use your smartphone or tablet without internet connection and browse throughout all the data, choosing one of the 3 intuitive methods available:

By location: use a “classical” geographical display with high-resolution mapsBy photograph: pick-up one of the hundreds of photos and jump to the corresponding sectionBy affinity or passion: tap on one of the colored icons illustrating your interests during a trip and get a list of the matching locations in Ireland!

What are you going to get from this Travel eGuide on Ireland?

300+ pages of high quality content200+ photos31 touristic sections30+ high-quality pre-downloaded mapsspecial for tight budgettested and validated tripA gastronomy section for you to cook some Irish recipes back home :-)A UDEMY COURSE to learn our proven tips & tricks to Travel freely without ruining yourself

What other people say about this course (2000+ students):

"I felt like the course was a fantastic refresher! Even though I've traveled before, usually within the US, and some of the tips and lectures seemed common sense to me, it has inspired me to begin my research again and reinvigorate me to experience the world. Thank you." - James Stewart"The course is very helpful & beneficial for new travelers who are interested in visiting new places in the world. I've enjoyed the organized sections & the detailed information." - Kamel Halabi"very informative and knowledgeable on travel" - Rudra Toulon"This was an informative course with actionable information." - Sheryl M Malzkuhn

So, are you ready for ALL OF THIS?! Yes?
Buckle up and Bon voyage!

Cristina & Olivier Rebiere

Island light is magical. And none more so than Ireland's. Ireland's light floods the landscape, luring the senses with a restless presence. The water surrounding and carving through the island reflects back to us the ever-changing movement of the wind-blown clouds and light. Stop for a minute and the settings change: what was straight is bent, light is dark, still is in motion. It is as though an unseen hand directs the wind, the clouds, and the light to harness our attention.

Ireland: A Luminous Beauty is a collection of stunning full-color photographs by some of Ireland's finest landscape photographers with concise text blending history, myth, and a sense of place. Many of the photographs were taken in the early morning light or as the sun set. That hour after sunrise and before sunset, with the sun low in the sky, is known to photographers as the golden hour and favored for its soft, diffused light.

We take a journey to one of the most beautiful places in the world. From the ancient stone monuments of the Boyne Valley to the treacherous stone steps of Skellig Michael; from the distinctive columns of the Giant's Causeway and the spectacularly sited Dunluce Castle ruins to lush, green countryside and fields of heather; from the limestone of the Burren (the rockiest part of Ireland) to exuberant stretches of flowers and gardens; from a moody sea and crashing surf to massive stone cliffs battered by the relentless pounding of the waves, and from steely rivers to tranquil lakes, it's all here.
The Irish respond to this dramatic environment by transforming it into one that solidifies and enriches their own sense of place. We all have this instinct to create our own space, but the Irish have made an art of it. Through the ancient, natural, and cultivated landscapes, surrounded by history and legend, we discover and celebrate the spirit of Ireland and its luminous beauty.

Do you want to visit a charming capital?

Welcome to Ireland, the territory of history and mysteries!

Dublin, the capital, has nothing more to hide because you are a true Leprechaun?Our Travel eGuide will definitely change your mind.Discover this capital and its region at your own pace and browse by photos, places or hobbies :-)

We have been traveling all around the world since our studenthood and have visited more than 45 countries so far. We love to find convenient and affordable travel solutions in order to maximize our touristic budget and discover hidden treasures during the journey, just like you! We are happy to offer you a free UDEMY COURSE included with our tips & tricks to travel free without ruining yourself.

Prepare and live your holidays... differently!

In this innovative Travel eGuide, a vitaminized additive to other tourist guides, we will share with you our passion for travel and our discoveries made on the roads and towns of Ireland. Discover the capital of this marvellous country full of mysteries, gorgeous landscapes, beautiful monasteries and magnificent castles reminding history, picturesque and colourful villages full of live with welcoming people and a music that will charm your ears :-)

So, if you do not know where to spend the next holidays, why not pay a visit for a few days to this wonderful island? All its treasures are waiting for you!

With this responsive eGuide, use your smartphone or tablet without internet connection and browse throughout all the data, choosing one of the 3 intuitive methods available:

By location: use a “classical” geographical display with high-resolution mapsBy photograph: pick-up one of the hundreds of photos and jump to the corresponding sectionBy affinity or passion: tap on one of the colored icons illustrating your interests during a trip and get a list of the matching locations in Ireland!

What are you going to get from this Travel eGuide on Ireland?

100+ pages of high quality content4 touristic sectionsspecial for tight budgettested and validated tripA gastronomy section for you to cook some Irish recipes back home :-)A free UDEMY COURSE to learn our proven tips & tricks to Travel without ruining yourself

What other people say about this course (2000+ students):

"I felt like the course was a fantastic refresher! Even though I've traveled before, usually within the US, and some of the tips and lectures seemed common sense to me, it has inspired me to begin my research again and reinvigorate me to experience the world. Thank you." - James Stewart"The course is very helpful & beneficial for new travelers who are interested in visiting new places in the world. I've enjoyed the organized sections & the detailed information." - Kamel Halabi"very informative and knowledgeable on travel" - Rudra Toulon"This was an informative course with actionable information." - Sheryl M Malzkuhn

So, are you ready for ALL OF THIS?! Yes?
Buckle up and Bon voyage!

Cristina & Olivier Rebiere

Old, elegant homes taking guests. Daily or weekly rentals.

A great tide of literary invention swept through Ireland between the 1890s and the 1920s. This engrossing, illuminating, and beautifully illustrated guidebook explores the personal and professional histories of writers such as W. B. Yeats, Lady Gregory, John Millington Synge, and Sean O’Casey and examines their relationships with the people, culture, and landscapes of Ireland. From Galway and the Aran Islands, to County Mayo and County Sligo, and from Dublin to Wicklow, this guide to the places that inspired Irish Literary Revival showcases the locations where many of Ireland’s finest writers shaped an enduring vision of the country.

Each year on St Patrick's Day eighty million people around the world celebrate their Irish ancestry. Millions more don leprechaun hats and down pints of Guinness in the annual high-fiving of Ireland and the Irish.
Charlie Connelly was one of them. He thought he had a good idea of what Ireland was all about. He was, after all, practically Irish. He had a bodhran and everything. Then, when he was least expecting it, he went to live there.
Our Man in Hibernia follows Charlie's adventures among the Irish. Immersing himself in Ireland's language, music and literature, he learns how closely the rose-tinted image he'd grown up with matches the reality, and explores the land, from the small patch of Connemara bog that changed the world to the Holy Tree Stump of Rathkeale. From defining moments of the country's history - the Great Famine and the Easter Rising - to its quirkier phenomena, such as the National Ploughing Championships and the Rose of Tralee, in Our Man in Hibernia Charlie Connelly paints an evocative, entertaining and witty portrait of Ireland today.

A sea kayak battles the freezing Irish waters as the morning sun rises out of the countryside. On the western horizon is the pinnacle of Skellig Michael-700 feet of vertical rock rising out of exploding seas. Somewhere on the isolated island are sixth-century monastic ruins where the light of civilization was kept burning during the Dark Ages by early Christian Irish monks. Puffins surface a few yards from the boat, as hundreds of gannets wheel overhead on six foot wing spans. The ocean rises violently and tosses paddler and boat as if they were discarded flotsam. This is just one day of Chris Duff's incredible three month journey.

One man's tour of Ireland on tap; a rollicking travelogue in the tradition of Round Ireland with a Fridge and McCarthy's Bar.

"Regret" is the word that best describes Evan McHugh's first taste of Guinness. For an Australian raised on Vegemite, Ireland's black brew is very much an acquired taste. But the travel-writer is committed to acquiring it. Determined to discover exactly what makes a pint of Guinness so legendary, he crosses the Emerald Isle in search of his answers.
But in sampling pints as he goes, McHugh soon realizes that in each town, and at every pub, someone always says that the best glass of Guinness is to be found . . . . somewhere else.
In his comedic and sentimental journey, McHugh and his companion, Twidkiwodm (the-woman-he-didn't-know-he-would-one-day-marry), hitch around Ireland, meeting unforgettable characters. He goes rowing with a German bagpiper on the lakes of Killarney, windsurfing with a one-armed man in Dingle, survives an encounter with poteen and even finds his own bar . . . but keeps searching for the perfect pint.
As entertaining as it is informative, Pint-Sized Ireland is both a hilarious travelogue and thoughtful diary. McHugh's comedic voice swiftly moves in and out of pubs, peering into froth-rimmed pints, and leading readers to question: So does he ever find the perfect pot of black gold?
Those who have rested upon the barstools of Ireland, who have sought the famed "perfect pint of Guinness," realize that perfection rests in more than just the taste. McHugh captures the visceral experience of Guinness and Ireland in a warm memoir that's perfect to savor.

International Praise for Pint-Sized Ireland

"McHugh's idea of traveling is one continuous pub crawl . . . an entertaining homage to the black brew."
---The Age (Australia)

"McHugh's writing style is intelligent, quirky, and conversational. The result is a consummately easy to read book, amusing and engaging. It'll make you want to go in search of your own perfect pint."
---Adventure Travel

"This is a lovely book, well written, full of humorous anecdotes and works both as a travelogue and as a guide to drinking in Ireland. One of the real joys of this book is the way that the author captures the nuances and syntax of the way the people speak (‘"Rooit", said the pub-landlord, ‘in ye coom"'). After a few pages you find yourself falling into this yourself and by the time you finish the book you will have developed a full-blown Irish accent."---www.bootsnall.com

Now available in PDF format.

DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Dublin will lead you straight to the best attractions this diverse city has to offer. Packed with photographs, illustrations, and maps, the guide includes in-depth coverage of Dublin's best attractions, from historic Trinity College, which houses the richly decorated Book of Kells, to the James Joyce Cultural Centre and Old Jameson Distillery in the north of the city, and covering all the best walks, landscaped parks, and pubs in between.

Comprehensive, full-color maps allow you to explore every corner of Dublin with your DK Eyewitness guidebook, and specially devised walking tours help you uncover the heart of Dublin, with sights, markets, and festivals listed for easy reference. Whether you want to wander around the Irish capital's many museums and cathedrals, shop on O'Connell Street, or sample a Guinness from the brewery itself, DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Dublin will take you there.

Full-color maps throughout. Tells you everything about the food, from bacon & cabbage to Irish stew and black pudding, and the best places to get it. All about the thousands of historical sites to explore prehistoric stone circles, ruined castles, Ogham stones. Explores all the towns, from Killarnee to Glengarriff. Details all the outdoor activities, such as hill walking, golf, deep sea angling. Plus the best places to stay for all budgets, based on personal visits. Like other Adventure Guides, this shows you how to experience the country more intensely and directly than most travelers know how to do getting out of the tour bus, the taxi or the rental car and seeing the place close-up, through walks, bike rides, horseback excursions, culinary adventures, interacting with the people. The author, an Ireland native, is the Arts Editor and Book Editor at The Irish Examiner newspaper. Other guides to Ireland lack this level of detail, the outdoor adventure perspective and the emphasis on direct experience of the country. The native Irish resident author offers an insider s perspective that the other guides lack. Tina Neylon lives in County Cork and Ireland is her passion. As a freelance journalist, much of her work has been published in The Irish Examiner, where she has also served as the Books Editor. Her knowledge of the country is extensive and she's thrilled to write Hunter's Adventure Guide to Ireland. "Aiming at making the visitor a participant rather than just a spectator, the author succeeds admirably in her descriptions, from Ireland's pub life to its prehistoric sites, the spectacular Cliffs of Moher and kissing the Blarney Stone. Neylon takes us on a fabulous and thorough journey throughout this beautiful country. Where to stay is thoroughly researched, with choices from rentals to government-approved hostels, B&Bs and RV parks. The Irish author's book is a compilation of how best to enjoy the delights her country holds for visitors." --Edyth Shepard, Anton Community Newspapers. "Excellent choice. This travel series is one of the best . The book is very well detailed and user-friendly. It's well priced, too, and a great bargain. I consider a good guidebook essential when visiting a new place and I was thrilled with this one. The writer is from Ireland and the book is filled with her insider knowledge. The photos and maps are great, as are the driving instructions. If you buy one guidebook to Ireland, then get this one - it has everything you need to know!!!!" --A reader. "I had the chance to take a look at the sample chapter (Dublin) that's available on your website and I have to say I am very impressed with layout and detailed information. I have long been a fan of the Lonely Planet Guides, but I compared your Dublin chapter to the one in Lonely Planet and am far more impressed with your guide. I look forward to reading through the rest of the guide when it arrives!" --Ireland Tour Operator. "An excellent addition to the Adventure Guide series, packed with detail, from where to stay and eat, to where to shop for local crafts and how to enjoy historic sites. This guide covers a broad range of Irish travel delights, from horseback excursions and walking to surfing and cycling trips. Highly recommended." The Midwest Book Review. "I just loved this book. It is packed with all sorts of helpful info and is written really well. The photos are fantastic!!! The book is very big and covers every part of the country and is really well laid out. I don't like the way some other guidebooks have really small print and aren't in any order but this one is easy to use." -- Amazon review. "Ireland is steeped in history, tradition and culture, making it one of the most popular vacation destinations worldwide. Its story is told in centuries-old castles (some of which now welcome overnight guests); stone circles strategically placed to shine in the winter solstice moon. This book, written by an Ireland native, tells it all." -- Amazon review

David Monagan has always dreamed of relocating to Ireland, the land of his forebears. With humour and candour, he describes the pleasures and pitfalls, challenges and frustrations of moving a feisty family to a foreign land. Jaywalking with the Irish isan honest, penetrating and often hilarious portrait of a contemporary Ireland that is so often portrayed through the wistful lens of cliches that no longer apply.

Important Notice: The digital edition of this book may not contain all of the images found in the physical edition.

Ireland Travel 101 The “travel Bible” for the Emerald Isle – East, South, West and North. Brimming with must-do experiences and off-the-beaten-path adventures, this book zeros in on how to find “the real Ireland” – the places that are high on the travel radar for a great Irish vacation. The fast-flowing chapters present the “wow” factors, sightseeing highlights, time and tactics needed to explore, hospitable hotels, recommended restaurants and cafes, noteworthy pubs, specialty shops and craft centers, local markets, useful tidbits and trivia, nearby digressions, and hundreds of helpful web site addresses. All of this information is capped by suggested day-to-day itineraries that you can use for your own special route. Author Patricia Preston has “been there, and done that” all over Ireland, and she is happy to share her insider’s tips with you. And if you still have questions, just go to Pat’s web site, www.IrelandExpert.com, and you’ll have your answer within 24 hours. For memorable travels and quite a few surprises, too, Ireland Travel 101 is the right book for you.

Aiming at making the visitor a participant rather than just a spectator, the author succeeds admirably in her descriptions, from Ireland's pub life to its prehistoric sites, the spectacular Cliffs of Moher and kissing the Blarney Stone. Neylon takes us on a fabulous and thorough journey throughout this beautiful country. Where to stay is thoroughly researched, with choices from rentals to government-approved hostels, B&Bs and RV parks. The Irish author's book is a compilation of how best to enjoy the delights her country holds for visitors. --Edyth Shepard, Anton Community Newspapers. Excellent choice. This travel series is one of the best . The book is very well detailed and user-friendly. It's well priced, too, and a great bargain. I consider a good guidebook essential when visiting a new place and I was thrilled with this one. The writer is from Ireland and the book is filled with her insider knowledge. The photos and maps are great, as are the driving instructions. If you buy one guidebook to Ireland, then get this one - it has everything you need to know!!!! --A reader. I had the chance to take a look at the sample chapter (Dublin) that's available on your website and I have to say I am very impressed with layout and detailed information. I have long been a fan of the Lonely Planet Guides, but I compared your Dublin chapter to the one in Lonely Planet and am far more impressed with your guide. I look forward to reading through the rest of the guide when it arrives! --Ireland Tour Operator. Ireland is steeped in history, tradition and culture, making it one of the most popular vacation destinations worldwide. Its story is told in centuries-old castles (some of which now welcome overnight guests); stone circles strategically placed to shine in the winter solstice moon; and, of course, in its pubs, where local residents gladly share a pint and a tale. Its cities are a treat to explore, with winding streets packed with tiny antique stores. Trips along the coast take you to traditional fishing villages and past some of the world s best golf courses. This book, written by an Ireland native, tells it all.

When the award-winning Irish Times' journalist Rosita Boland was a schoolgirl she had--in common with all Irish children--amap of Ireland. Iconic in its pinks, greens and yellows, the Educational Company map was a staple of the Irish schoolhouse. As the author matured and changed, so did the unique country she grew to know first-hand. With deep affection and curiosity, she followed her very own map from those by-gone schooldays to take the reader on a tour of Irelnad, a tour like no other

Welcome to the Ireland of its Writers

Walk the streets of Dublin with Jonathan Swift, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, and Roddy Doyle. Contemplate the wild glens of Wicklow with John Millington Synge and Seamus Heaney. Wander the thrilling Cliffs of Moher with Wallace Stevens. Visit antic Limerick with Frank McCourt; mysterious Coole Park with Lady Gregory; breathtaking Sligo with William Butler Yeats; wild Donegal with Brien Friel; and hidden Clare with Edna O'Brien.

No place has inspired more great literature than Ireland, which in each new generation gives birth to an astonishing number of poets, storytellers, and dramatists. For the literary pilgrim to arrive, book in hand, at the pub where Joyce set a scene or the mountain where Yeats imagined a myth is to uncover fresh meaning in the works of writers in love with their native landscape.

In For the Love of Ireland, Susan Cahill offers the jewels of Irish literature. Each selection is followed by traveler's advice on how to find and fully experience the place that's about. Whether you take this book with you to Ireland or savor it in your armchair, you will be enriched, ennobled, and entertained by writers of remarkable range and at the top of their form.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Ireland is a perennial favourite. Good to visit hail, rain or shine, it's a year-round destination with plenty to offer. From its stunning natural setting, sweeping views over the Atlantic on the west coast, verdant farmland with grazing livestock to its colourful seaside towns and bustling capital city, take a queue from the locals and just go with the flow. Be inspired to visit by the brand new Berlitz Pocket Guide Ireland, a concise, full-color guide to this small island that combines lively text with vivid photography to highlight the best that Ireland has to offer.

Berlitz Pocket Guide Ireland:

Where To Go covers the Republic as well as Northern Ireland.

Top 10 Attractions gives a run-down of the best sights to take in on your trip, including the Dingle Peninsula,Trinity and The Book of Kells, Temple Bar, Newgrange and Cork.

A Perfect Tour provides an itinerary for a good tour of the country.

What To Do is a snapshot of ways to spend your spare time; try cycling, horseriding or even surfing, and then there's walking trails and shopping, plus nightlife.

Essential information on Ireland's culture, including a brief history.

Eating Out covers the country's best cuisine.

Curated listings of the best hotels and restaurants.

A-Z of all the practical information you'll need.

About Berlitz: Berlitz draws on years of travel and language expertise to bring you a wide range of travel and language products, including travel guides, maps, phrase books, language-learning courses, dictionaries and kids' language products.

 Dublin, one of the world's most exciting, historical and cosmopolitan cities, and now so easy to enjoy. Top 5 Dublin is the essential insider's guide to Ireland's capital, the wonderful city of Dublin - bars, shops, restaurants, museums, day trips and more - and it includes live in-book links to a dedicated website, as well as links to maps, useful sites and social media updates. Updated, September 2014.
This Dublin tourism ebook guide is perfect for tourists, visitors, even residents.

Whether you're planning to visit Dublin for a holiday, you've just landed and don't know how to get to the city centre cheaply, or you've lived here for years, download this brilliant guide to the city's best attractions and activities right now for practical advice and local knowledge. Written by worldwide number one best-selling author Gary J Byrnes, who's lived in Dublin for over 25 years.

CONTENTS

Arriving in Dublin
A Brief History of Dublin
Getting your bearings
Public transport
Dublin miscellany
Top 5 Dublin experiences
Top 5 places to eat
Top 5 places to drink
Top 5 coffee and tea shops
Top 5 museums and galleries
Top 5 shopping destinations
Top 5 Day Trips from Dublin
Top 5 souvenirs
Top 5 places and things to avoid
Top 5 Dublin slang phrases
Top 5 Dublin legends
Top 5 random experiences
Top 5 seasonal experiences
Top 5 Dublin suburbs
Top 5 Ireland near Dublin

And if you've got anything to add, just join the conversation!

Web Times Ten - Ebook Publishing Services

Come for a week – stay for a lifetime! That’s the lure of Ireland. Essential reading for anyone considering a move or visit to Ireland. Is Ireland the land of your dreams? Have you ever thought of staying for a prolonged visit, establishing residency, or creating an Irish business? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in Ireland? Find out in this rich volume of over 80,000 words devoted to the ever-changing tapestry of living and working in Ireland. 

This fun, easy to read book contains (among other things) a brief history of Ireland, the opportunities present here for would-be immigrants, and tips on how to get a work permit, become a citizen, buy a home, cope with taxation and the cost of living, and enjoy this amazing country for yourself. As an added bonus, a Dictionary of Irish Slang and Phrases is also included! 

In 1982, American Tom Richards, fresh out of UCLA, took a four-week holiday in Ireland. He’s been here ever since. Witty and insightful, Tom tells how he overcame the culture shock of living in the Ol’ Sod, learning to twist his middle-class American thinking into a more European point of view while managing to pay his bills at the same time. Along the way, he’s learned some practical lessons that he now shares: From how to understand the Irish to how to drink a perfect pint; from finding a job to how to get a work permit; from purchasing your fist dream home to learning to take soaking walks on a soft Irish day. 

Here, he reveals that to survive in Ireland all you have to do is discover the magic of this wonderful country for yourself. In its various editions,A Survivor’s Guide to Living in Ireland has already sold over 15,000 copies. With it you can learn to Talk like the Irish, Drink like the Irish, Work like the Irish, and Live like the Irish. Essential reading for anyone considering a visit or move to this fabulous country

Ireland is a perennial favourite. Good to visit hail, rain or shine, it's a year-round destination with plenty to offer. From its stunning natural setting, sweeping views over the Atlantic on the west coast, verdant farmland with grazing livestock to its colourful seaside towns and bustling capital city, take a queue from the locals and just go with the flow. Be inspired to visit by the brand new Insight Pocket Guide Ireland, a concise, full-color guide to this small island that combines lively text with vivid photography to highlight the best that Ireland has to offer.

Inside Insight Pocket Guide Ireland:
Where To Go covers the Republic as well as Northern Ireland.

Top 10 Attractions gives a run-down of the best sights to take in on your trip, including the Dingle Peninsula, Trinity and The Book of Kells, Temple Bar, Newgrange and Cork.

A Perfect Tour provides an itinerary for a good tour of the country.

What To Do is a snapshot of ways to spend your spare time; try cycling, horseriding or even surfing, and then there's walking trails and shopping, plus nightlife.

Essential information on Ireland's culture, including a brief history.

Eating Out covers the country's best cuisine.

Curated listings of the best hotels and restaurants.

A-Z of all the practical information you'll need.

About Insight Guides: Insight Guides has over 40 years' experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce around 400 full-colour print guide books and maps as well as picture-packed eBooks to meet different travellers' needs. Insight Guides' unique combination of beautiful travel photography and focus on history and culture together create a unique visual reference and planning tool to inspire your next adventure.

'Insight Guides has spawned many imitators but is still the best of its type.' - Wanderlust Magazine

The thought of Ireland, often called the “Emerald Isle”, triggers off many visions in one’s mind; the first thought is “green” as there are few places on earth as green as Ireland in the summer. The next thought is St. Patrick’s Day, followed by green beer, four leaf clovers and Leprechauns. All of those are a rich part of the Irish Culture, but there is far more to the Emerald Isle than just green beer and leprechauns. 

Whether you're after a stroll through the woods in springtime, a canoe safari on the Norfolk Broads, a day at the caber-tossing Highland Games or afternoon tea at a fancy hotel, this book will lead you to the best holiday destinations and experiences Great Britain and Ireland have to offer. Its easy-to-use season-by-season format and six themes - History and Heritage; Wildlife and Landscape; Cities, Towns and Villages; Outdoor Activities; Family Getaways; and Festivals and Events - make planning your time on these beautiful isles easier than ever.

Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher

Discover the freedom of open roads with Lonely Planet's Ireland's Best Trips, your passport to up-to-date advice on uniquely encountering Ireland by car. Featuring 34 amazing road trips, from 2-day escapes to 2-week adventures, you can explore the brooding loneliness of Connemara and the exquisite peninsulas of the southwest, all with your trusted travel companion. Get to Ireland, rent a car, and hit the road!

Inside Lonely Planet's Ireland's Best Trips:

Lavish colour and gorgeous photography throughout Itineraries and planning advice to pick the right tailored routes for your needs and interests Get around easily - 34 easy-to-read, full-colour route maps, detailed directions Insider tips to get around like a local, avoid trouble spots and be safe on the road - local driving rules, parking, toll roads Essential info at your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, prices Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss Useful features - including Driving Problem Buster, Detours, and Link Your Trip Covers Dublin, Ennis, Cork, Galway, Belfast, the Dingle Peninsula, Wexford, Waterford, Killarney, Limerick, Westport, Tralee, Kenmare, Ring of Kerry, Connemara, Glendalough, Doolin, Derry, Bangor and more

eBook Features: (Best viewed on tablet devices and smartphones)

Downloadable PDF and offline maps prevent roaming and data charges Effortlessly navigate and jump between maps and reviews Add notes to personalise your guidebook experience Seamlessly flip between pages Bookmarks and speedy search capabilities get you to key pages in a flash Embedded links to recommendations' websites Zoom-in maps and images Inbuilt dictionary for quick referencing

The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet's Ireland's Best Trips is perfect for exploring Ireland via the road and discovering sights that are more accessible by car.

Planning an Irish trip sans a car? Lonely Planet's Ireland guide, our most comprehensive guide to Ireland, is perfect for exploring both top sights and lesser-known gems.

About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the world’s number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveler since 1973. Over the past four decades, we’ve printed over 145 million guidebooks and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travelers. You’ll also find our content online, and in mobile apps, video, 14 languages, nine international magazines, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more.

Important Notice: The digital edition of this book may not contain all of the images found in the physical edition.

Rich in history, castles and larger-than-life characters, St Declan's Way is one of Ireland's best kept secrets.

Rosamund's adventures begin when she is lent a map of the ancient highway and pilgrim route St Declan's Way. Intrigued she returns to Ireland. Setting off from the famous Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary, she travels through small towns and villages, across the beautiful Knockmealdown Mountains, to the town of Lismore with its spectacular castle, where her family used to live, and then on to the fishing village of Ardmore in County Waterford.

Battling the rain as she follows narrow country roads, little used tracks and overgrown paths, she traces the footsteps of St Declan. From a day at a horse fair to climbing mountains and tracking down fairy forts, she captures perfectly the local characters and castles, miraculous wells and talking statues, the broken dreams and local legends. Stories of goddesses, ghosts and fairies are intertwined with the eccentricities and daily lives of everyday people - this is a journey full of the surprises that only Ireland can offer.

Walking has never been a more popular pastime and nowhere is more beautiful for walkers to explore than Ireland. In this beautifully written and superbly researched guide, Christopher Somerville draws on his very popular column for the Irish Independent, to present 50 of the very best walks in Ireland - from the Nephin Beg Mountains in Mayo to Dingle Way in Kerry. Practical instructions for the walks are married with evocative and informative passages on the history, flora and fauna, culture and topography of the land. Whether it's exploring the Burren in its floral glory or seeing the Walls of Derry, or even sitting at home in your armchair planning your next walk, this book will prove popular with ramblers, holiday makers and anyone who loves the Irish landscape.

Chris Dowding lived a quiet, solitary life as an engineer in Brisbane that only began to change when he met his future wife Kerryn who, after their wedding, persuaded Chris to move to Ireland-to a new beginning. A Few Drops Short of a Pint is the hilarious account of Chris and Kerryn's Irish experience. Capturing Chris's fascinations, frustrations and fears (did you know 58 percent of all motor accidents in Dublin occur during the day, in high visibility conditions with dry weather, on a straight road?) in his new surroundings, the story covers Irish lifestyle issues ranging from water heating to violent political factionalism. While exploring Ireland, A Few Drops Short of a Pint is also a powerful story of self-exploration and discovery, showing that sometimes a change of circumstances is all the therapy we need. Jubilant and demoralised in equal measures, this is a story oozing with razor sharp (and often self-deprecating) wit that beautifully captures the experience of transplanting yourself into a foreign culture.

VS. Pritchett, master of the short story, is also the most evocative of travel writers. First published in 1967, his portrait of Dublin - its past, politics and people, its grand mansions and curious corners - is as beguiling and eloquent as the city itself, as he writes of the Dublin he knew in the 1920s, of visits to Sean O'Casey and Yeats (brandishing a teapot in his rage at Shaw) and of the changing city forty years later, facing the future but still as eccentric and engaging as ever.

The cities of the Emerald Isle are buzzing with self-confidence as the economy grows at a giddy rate. But there will always be an unhurried Ireland of music and folklore, of eccentrics and the world's greatest conversationalists. From Dublin's fair city to the wilderness of Connemara, this enchanting island is packed with variety: mountains and pastures, castles and cottages, ancient monuments and elegant squares. This Way Ireland explores its history and culture and introduces its friendly, smiling people.

Find the craic in Dublin with this Berlitz Pocket Guide, a concise, full-colour guide to Ireland's fast-paced capital. It tells you everything you need to know about the best places to visit in the city, from the party district Temple Bar, to the grand boulevard O'Connell Street and the ever-popular Guinness Storehouse. Handy maps on the cover flaps help you find your way around, and are cross-referenced to the text.
The guide is full of ideas for enjoying this friendly and vibrant city, with our 10 top attractions in Dublin, such as the world famous Book of Kells, followed by an itinerary for a Perfect Day in the city. The What to Do chapter is a selection of what's on offer in Dublin, including pubs and nightlife, shopping, entertainment, sports and activities for children.
The book provides all the essential background on Dublin's culture, including a brief history of Dublin and an Eating Out chapter covering the city's superb range of cuisine. There are carefully chosen listings of the best hotels and restaurants and an A-Z of all the practical information you'll need.

This is a how we did it book for vacationing in Ireland. The main focus of the vacation is renting a canal boat for a week and seeing the sights on the River Barrow. We encourage others who have an interest in doing this, but have no idea how to do it, to use our experiences as a rough guide. We describe our planning and execution of the trip in detail with lots of pictures. We spent time in Dublin, on a boat on the River Barrow and in Skerries.

Dublin is renowned for its amazing profusion of pubs and for its exuberant pub culture. In Dublin Pub Life and Lore, Professor Kevin Kearns examines the history of this phenomenon by speaking to old publicans, barmen and regular customers, relating the story of Dublin pubs and their patrons in an engaging and entertaining fashion.

Traditionally in Ireland, the public house or ‘pub’ was the centre of a community’s social life and a social institution ranking second in importance only to the parish church. Pubs ranged from dusky watering holes frequented by labourers, dockers and shawlies to elegant Victorian gin palaces where the gentry and literati gathered. Along the Dublin quays there were dives filled with scoundrels, prostitutes and misfits of every sort.

Following the success of his bestselling classic Dublin Tenement Life, Kevin Kearns has researched and created a wonderful oral historical chronicle of Dublin’s pub life. Based on conversations with old publicans, pub ‘regulars’ and long-serving barmen, Dublin Pub Life and Lore captures the folklore, customs, characters and wit of the traditional Dublin public house.

Dublin Pub Life and Lore: Table of ContentsIntroduction

History and Evolution of Dublin Public Houses
Origins and Uses of Alcohol
A City of Taverns and Alehouses
Dublin’s Colourful Public Houses
Drinking Customs of the Social Classes
Disreputable Drinking Dens
Proud and Prosperous Publicans
Dublin Temperance Movement
Government Inquiry into Intemperance and the Role of Public Houses
Oral History and Pub Lore
Dublin Pub Culture and Social Life
The Pub as a Living Social Institution
The Publican’s Role and Status
Pub Regulars and Their Local
Porters, Apprentices and Barmen
Pubs as IRA Meeting Places
Women on the “Holy Ground”
The Pintman and His Pint
Pub Customs and Traditions
Pub Entertainment
Singing Pubs
Literary Pubs
Notable Pub Characters
Eccentric Publicans and Notorious Pubs
Underworld of Shebeens, Kips and Speakeasies
Famous Barmen’s Strikes
Transformation and Desecration of Venerable Pubs
Oral Testimony of Publicans and Barmen
Oral Testimony of Pub Regulars and Observers

"Holohan's ability to write the kind of free-flowing naturalistic dialogue that so potently conveys the anarchic spirit of schoolboy warfare . . . is grounded by a shadow play of macabre references to horrors that ghost around the edges of the narrative, many eerily similar to some of the more infamous real life reports that have emerged in recent years."
--The Irish Times

Combining the spirit of Kingsley Amis's Lucky Jim with a bawdy evisceration of hypocrisy in old-school Catholic education, The Brothers' Lot is a comic satire that tells the story of the Brothers of Godly Coercion School for Young Boys of Meager Means, a dilapidated Dickensian institution run by an assemblage of eccentric, insane, and often nasty celibate Brothers. The school is in decline and the Brothers hunger for a miracle to move their founder, the Venerable Saorseach O'Rahilly, along the path to Sainthood.

When a possible miracle presents itself, the Brothers fervently seize on it with the help of the ethically pliant Diocesan Investigator, himself hungry for a miracle to boost his career. The school simultaneously comes under threat from strange outside forces. The harder the Brothers try to defend the school, the worse things seem to get. It takes an outsider, Finbar Sullivan, a young student newly arrived at the school, to see that the source of the threat may in fact lie inside the school itself. As the miracle unravels, the Brothers' efforts to preserve it unleash a disastrous chain of events.

Tackling a serious subject from the oblique viewpoint of satire, The Brothers' Lot explores the culture that allowed abuses within church-run institutions in Ireland to go unchecked for decades.

When the award-winning Irish Times' journalist Rosita Boland was a schoolgirl she had--in common with all Irish children--amap of Ireland. Iconic in its pinks, greens and yellows, the Educational Company map was a staple of the Irish schoolhouse. As the author matured and changed, so did the unique country she grew to know first-hand. With deep affection and curiosity, she followed her very own map from those by-gone schooldays to take the reader on a tour of Irelnad, a tour like no other

Over 2,500 courses covered in detail. Hotels recommended by golfers, for golfers.