"DINDSENCHAS I have come to Ireland in search of stories. Little hairy anecdotes. Tales with awkward shapes and too many feet. The great creation myths. The shameful stories that live down caves and shy away from the light. The old Celtic bards even used to have a special name for all the legends and myths that had taken root in this gruff, barren landscape: Dindsenchas [Din-shen-eh-chas] - “Lore of places”. This was the kind of stories I wanted to hunt down, coax out, and dig up on my journey round the coast of Ireland."
Ireland - a Celtic Journey is a travel account from around the Irish coast. The reader meets Gaelic story tellers, priests, drunkards, IRA sympatiseres, Celtic island kings, salmon poachers, moonshiners and many more. By blending humour and sobriety the author challenges cliches surrounding the Emerald Island.
The account is based on thorough background research and interviews with local people. The research includes older travel accounts from 1700th and 1800th century such as the ones of Dr. Johnson and Boswell or W.M. Thackeray and letters or writings from prominent Irish authors or politicians such as George Bernard Shaw, W.B. Yeats or Michael Collins.
The author writes beautifully and knowledgeable about The Emerald Island, its history, people and places. A real gem (Torbjørn Færøvik)