Description

A memorable account of travelling by bicycle around Ireland in 1902 and 1903. William Bulfin takes us to a magnificent part of Ireland where all the loveliness, freshness, beauty and grandeur of the countryside burst into view. The scenery is splendid and you will not be able to keep your hold on the present while you are there as your thoughts will be far away when you visit the woods and travel the white winding roads made cool even on the hottest day by the shade of the flower-laden hedges. You will see hay-making and turf-cutting and enjoy a glass of milk and a chat with the old people across their half-doors or on a stool beside the hearth. You will be welcomed on your travels by the children at the crossroads and discover the simple and beautiful life of rural Ireland. If you delight in visiting the historic sites in the west of Ireland and on the banks of the Shannon, this book is definitely for you.

Rambles in the West of Ireland is a selection of fascinating material from the bestselling Rambles in Eirinn.

William Bulfin was the editor of the Irish community's newspaper in Argentina. His 'Rambles in Eirinn combined Bulfin's impressions of contemporary Ireland with a selective recall of its history and traditions, folklore and legends. The breath of humanity and the spontaneous impact of the book stem from his pungent journalism plus the fact that hardly any of the references depended upon written works; the writing flowed from a passionate sense of the missionary zeal of the returned exile. He was his own encyclopaedia hibernica...Bulfin had complained of the 'West Briton' type of guidebook since it ignored so many of the features of the life and landscape in Ireland. He claimed that it was only useful to those tired and tiresome souls, to the day trippers who follow one another like sheep.'

'It is its burning sense of optimism and affection that makes Rambles in Eirinn an essential read for any person interested in the spiritual renewal of Ireland

at the crossroads of historical change.' -Callan, Patrick. “Rambles in Éirinn, by William Bulfin.” Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review 71, no. 284 (1982): 391–98. http://www.jstor.org/stable/30090471.