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The Back Of Beyond

A Search For The Soul Of Ireland

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By James Charles Roy

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On Sale
Jun 2, 2004
Page Count
232 pages
Publisher
Basic Books
ISBN-13
9780813391526

James Charles Roy, a noted authority on Irish history and travel, escorts a disparate group of Americans through the lonely backwaters of ancient Ireland. Visions of a glorious enterprise evaporate as he sees a dejected and weary handful of aged American tourists disembark at Shannon Airport. Fortified by Guinness, Roy hurls himself into sharing with them the joys and wonders of Ireland’s twisted byways. Determined to avoid clichéRoy leads his group to obscure Celtic coronation sites, monasteries, and remote abbeys as he spins a narrative that pulls Ireland’s chaotic story into coherence. His unsuspecting charges begin to shed their hesitancies, relishing their guide’s idiosyncratic approach to Ireland. Black comedy aside, Roy touches an emotional chord: how the economic phenomenon known as the Celtic Tiger has transformed Old Ireland into a high-tech power. At the tour’s end, Roy embarks alone for the inaccessible Ardoilean, a seventh-century Celtic hermitage in County Galway. His vision of an Ireland lost forever is an emotional tour de force.

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$19.99

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$25.99 CAD

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  1. Trade Paperback $19.99 $25.99 CAD
  2. ebook $9.99 $12.99 CAD

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James Charles Roy

About the Author

James Charles Roy has been a peripatetic “independent scholar” since 1970, when he left Time Inc. He has written innumerable articles on Irish history and five distinguished books, including The Fields of Athenry and Islands of Storm, a Book-of-the-Month and History Book Club selection. He divides his time between Moyode Castle in County Galway and his home in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

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