Follow the Old Road
Discover the Ireland of Yesteryear
Jo Kerrigan author Richard Mills illustrator
Format:Paperback
Publisher:O'Brien Press Ltd
Published:11th Mar '24
Should be back in stock very soon
This paperback is available in another edition too:
- Hardback£17.99(9781847179111)
By turning off the main highway and discovering old routes, some of which have been travelled for thousands of years, you will see Ireland in an entirely different way. Follow the Old Road will take you on a tour of a variety of pathways from great river roads to lost railways.
Long before records began, travellers arriving on our shores found safe havens, natural harbours, the estuaries of rivers, and settled there, in sight of the ocean that had brought them to this land. Gradually they moved inland to more fertile soil, usually along the course of a river that provided both guidance and essential water supplies. In later centuries, great lords built their castles and monks their abbeys upriver, at the tidal limit. Some of the routes are still used today while others lie ignored and overgrown. Villages, and, later on, towns grew up around these castles and abbeys to serve their needs; towns that still prosper today.
a historical travelogue that will inspire explorers … beautifully designed and presented … evoking yesteryear … rediscover for yourself the ‘old roads’ of Ireland
-- Irish ExaminerJo Kerrigan’s welcome book traces lesser-known routes in Ireland - lesser-known to the stranger anyway - useful not just for the walker but for the casual student of social history.
Richard Mills’ splendid black-and-white photographs help make the book into a consummate picture of old ways that are still with us physically and spritually
4 star review from
-- RTE.ie/cultureterrific … a wonderful work that will surely inspire
-- Celtic Life International Magazinewonderful photography
-- Hotel and Catering Reviewwitness the beauty of Ireland as never before
-- Irish Country Magazinediscover the hidden beauty of Ireland through lesser known roads
-- Antrim Guardiandeceptively simple … lyrical … beautifully resurrects the arteries of Ireland on which life once moved … a pleasure to read
-- Evening EchoI admire your passion because it comes through … people can hear how deeply you care about these places, about this way of life... great photography … if you are a fan of rural Ireland there is a lot for you to take out of that
-- Clare FM’s Morning Focus with Gavin GraceKerrigan’s Follow the Old Road uncovers tantalising alternate Irelands – kingdoms of Oz to our familiar Kansas. As with her previous two travel books, there is a generous helping of history, archaeology, wildlife and folklore always with more than a hint of mystery. Questions are asked and not all are answered, making the armchair traveller long to get up and see for themselves the real places stunningly rendered in mysterious black-and-white photography by Richard Mills. How did Mills get that strange white cat to pose at the mouth of the Cave of Cats which the ancients believed was the entrance to the otherworld in Rathcroghan in Co Roscommon? This is a book to dream over … Kerrigan’s cinematic approach makes me see finally how everything fits together while paradoxically opening up endless versions. There’s something quite magical about this, and Follow the Old Road makes a great companion for her Old Ways, Old Secrets which conjures tales from the ground under our feet, documenting a pagan Ireland which still breathes in her pages … detailed and evocative but it is impossible to do justice to the wealth of information. Kerrigan has the rare gift of being able to transfer her own vision to the reader. I won’t be happy now until I’ve seen these roads for myself
-- Irish Timesan entertaining read, whether you’re using it as a travel guide on holiday or enhancing your understanding of a favourite walk or journey
-- Belfast TelegISBN: 9781788494847
Dimensions: 216mm x 135mm x 21mm
Weight: 420g
304 pages
New edition