For the Love of Ireland: A Literary Companion for Readers and Travelers

by Susan Cahill (editor), James Joyce, Jonathan Swift

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.

Genres: Travel, Ireland, Poetry, Nonfiction, Short Stories, Irish Literature, Books About Books

480 pages, Paperback

First published February 13, 2001

About the author

SUSAN CAHILL has published several travel books on France, Italy, and Ireland, including Sacred Paris, Hidden Gardens of Paris and The Streets of Paris. She is the editor of the bestselling Women and Fiction series and author of the novel Earth Angels. She spends a few months in Paris every year. MARION RANOUX, a native Parisienne, is an experienced freelance photographer and translator into French of Czech literature.

Reviews

[Kathryn Bashaar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A friend in my Irish dancing group lent this book to me. It's a literary travel guide to Ireland, highlighting Irish authors from pre-history through current day, from each of the nations provinces and counties. Cahill prefaces each piece with some background on the author, and follows each with a small travelogue to places of significance either to the author or in their work

As with any anthology, I didn't like every single work that was included. For example, I will just never be a James Joyce fan. But the pieces I did like, I really, really loved, which is why the book rates 5 stars from me. I don't generally read for beauty of language, which is probably why I'm not a big poetry reader, even though I am the mother of a poet. I like story; I read mostly for character and plot. But the language in some of the pieces in this book literally took my breath away: how Roddy Doyle just nails the lilt, cadence and quirks of Dublin's dialect, the crystal beauty Seamus Heaney brings to the simple memory of his father digging peat, Joyce Cary's dreamlike description of the landscape of his childhood.

I added several books to my reading list, thanks to this sampling, and feel inspired to return to Ireland to see some of the wonders that we missed on our first trip there in 2014.

Like my reviews? Check out my blog at http://www.kathrynbashaar.com/blog/
Author of The Saint's Mistress: https://www.bing.com/search?q=amazon....

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I first bought this book in 2006, after a trip to Ireland, then proceeded to leave it on my shelf for 12 years, dutifully carting it Home from college and packing and unpacking it 6 times in between. I finally picked it up before a planned trip to Ireland with my husband this year, only bow realizing its travel book! In the two decades since this was written, many things have changed in Ireland, but as a travel companion and literary guide to many of Ireland’s great writers, I think it is still an excellent resource. Northern Ireland perhaps gets short shrift. And let’s team Susan Cahill up with a cartographer for the next edition; I would have loved a map!

[Stephanie Porto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this book before a trip to Ireland. It is a great planning guide and even better, the one book you pack with you for the trip. There is nothing like driving through Donegal and reading Seamus Heaney in situ.

[William Guerrant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Subtitled "A Literary Companion for Readers and Travelers," this excellent book is composed of excerpts from Irish literature (arranged geographically), followed by advice to Irish-literature-loving travelers.

[Chet Makoski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goodreads summary is just perfect. I truly enjoyed the writers’ profiles, the samples of their work provided, but also the travel suggestions and analysis for each part of Ireland featured in this book. I have been to most of the places described and found pleasure in reliving those experiences.

[Homerun2 · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Nikki Keefe · Rating 4 out of 5]

like the compilation of authors

[Michael Gealt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tough book for me to read. I did not finish because I felt I was not getting from the book what I was expecting. This was read prior to a visit to Ireland.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took a long time, but it was worth it.

[Terry Tracz]

If you are a lover of Irish Literature and intend to visit Ireland, this book is for you! Since I am not familiar with even the most famous Irish authors, this book was less interesting to me, but I still enjoyed the hints given in each section entitled "for the Literary Traveler".

[Bill Hurlbut · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book as accompaniment for our trip to Ireland last year. It is useful as both a guide to special places and as an introduction to Irish literature, though its focus is on landscapes, people, and places rather than literary importance.