Reading List

This is a list of books I've read (or am reading*) as part of the preparation for the trip.  Four of the books listed deal with the Great Famine, because I still can't wrap my mind around the fact that this was allowed to happen to the Irish people.  Maybe if I keep reading different accounts of what happened, it will at some point make some sense to me. 

Paddy's Lament, 1846-1847:  Prelude to Hatred

Black Potatoes:  The Story of the Great Irish Famine, 1845-1850

Vanishing Ireland: Further Chronicles of a Disappearing World

Angela's Ashes

When Ireland Fell Silent:  A Story of a Family's Struggle Against Famine and Eviction

* The Graves are Walking:  The Great Famine and the Saga of the Irish People

* In Search of Ancient Ireland:  The Origins of the Irish from Neolithic Times to the Coming of the English

* Rebels: The Irish Rising of 1916

* Star of the Sea

* People of the Wetlands: Bogs, Bodies and Lake-Dwellers (Ancient Peoples and Places)

* To Hell or Barbados:  The Ethnic Cleansing of Ireland

* Nan:  The Life of an Irish Travelling Woman (note: about the gypsy culture in Ireland)

Below are some pictures of a gypsy caravan similar to the one that Nan, the subject of the last book in the list, probably lives(d) in.  The one in the photos has been refurbished to accommodate tourists at the Phoenix organic farm in Castlemaine, Co. Kerry.  We'll be staying in this camper-style room (without facilities) for one night and try to learn more about the Irish travellers' way of life.  Of course, we'll be dining in high style on organic food picked that day on the farm and drinking organic wine - not your typical gypsy meal - but this night should provide us with some pretty special insight into one aspect of Irish culture not often understood by tourists. 

There's also a large pile of travel books next to the bed, some of which include:

Rick Steves Ireland

Around Ireland on a Bike

Cycle Touring in Ireland

DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Ireland

Ireland for Food Lovers