I realized a long-standing dream March 28 - May 19, 1997, when I spent a biking sabbatical in Ireland. Having spent nearly thirty years teaching English literature on the college level in the Midwest, I had developed a deep affection for the great writers of Ireland such as James Joyce, William Butler Yeats, J. M. Synge, Sean O’Casey, and more recently the Irish-American writer Frank McCourt. They wrote beautifully often about the mind-numbing poverty of their native land or the horrors of British abuse. Often they dismissed such anguish and simply celebrated the beauty of the land and the tenacity of the people. I loved all of it.
When my college in Kalamazoo, MI accepted my sabbatical proposal in early 1997 to tour Ireland by bike and study its people and places, I immediately embarked on a thorough study of maps, tour books, Internet research, and Bord Failte (national tourist board of Ireland) literature.
The possibilities seemed endless, but after my wife and I spent the first week in Ireland touring together by car, I biked the remaining six weeks generally along the coasts of Ireland logging over 1,000 miles of very hilly terrain. Castles, flowering yellow gorse, pubs, stone walls and huts, lakes and icy streams, and the crispy-blue Atlantic seemed to be around every bend of road. The trip lived up to all my high expectations.
Before flying out of Michigan, I broke down my Cannondale touring bike to fit into a bike box (supplied by my local bike dealer) which the airline shipped without charge as part of my luggage. Once I put my bike back together, I loaded up handle bar pack, front and back wheel packs, and rear rack. If I didn’t have something with me, I would have to buy it along the way, for once I left my home base (Valhalla B & B) near Shannon Airport I would not return to it until the night before my return flight to Michigan.
My tour included most of the west coast of Ireland, including such key locations as Sligo, famous for Yeats’ poetically acclaimed Benbulben Mountain; Galway, Ireland’s fastest growing city; Donegal in the far north and nearly on the border between the Republic and Northern Ireland; and Dingle and the Dingle peninsula replete with stark cliffs, crashing sea, and ancient stone sites. After a few days in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, I made my way east by cross-country train ride Sligo to Dublin. I wandered Dublin and Dun Laoghaire for a few days and then proceeded to bike south to the Viking cities of Wexford and Waterford of cut glass fame and then west to Bantry on a beautiful bay, and finally north to Tralee, known the world over for its annual beauty pageant and rose garden in honor of Rose Kennedy; finally, I returned in a downpour to Valhalla B & B near Shannon Airport with my cousin who joined me in Waterford for the final couple of weeks of my trip.
Of the 32 total counties in all of Ireland, I biked in 15 of them. In Ireland the train and bus systems like much of Europe are excellent, and between the two I logged approximately 350 additional miles. With ample travel times and destinations to choose from, the biker in Ireland generally will find such public transportation a convenient, efficient, and economical way to haul self and bike cross country. Both B & B’s and hostels, which are reasonable, can be found in abundance throughout Ireland. It was never necessary for me to sleep in a tent.
I usually started my day with a big breakfast, snacked for lunch, and ate pub grub for dinner. I probably spent an average of between $40 and $50 per day.
The Michelin Ireland Motoring Map #405 was the most useful for biking; other maps were either too detailed or not detailed enough. Ireland has an amazing number of paved roads; even narrow country lanes are paved. On occasion I had to bike highways, and they were sometimes crowded and narrow. Biking was intense and nerve racking during these brief stints. Most of the side roads or country lanes were absolutely quiet and pleasurable, the only traffic being cows or sheep. Gravel roads are quite rare, so road bikes with narrow tires work fine throughout the country. I averaged about 40 miles a day biking, had only two flat tires during the whole trip, and only required some brake work at a bike shop in Mallow after some harrowing downhill runs. My longest day was 60 miles, my shortest 10. My desire was not to log miles but to see the sights and talk to the people. I also wanted to get into towns early enough to explore and get off the roads well before dark. Typically I slid into towns around mid-afternoon each day. I never had difficulty finding a room. Only once 'in Sligo' did I have to seek another B & B. During peak tourist season--June through August--however, reserving rooms in advance is a necessity.
There are numerous resources that the traveler and biker will find useful in getting around Ireland. I found that biking guides compiled by natives were the most useful. Cycle Touring Ireland by Brendan Walsh (Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, 1997) is written by an experienced Irish cyclist, and it is detailed and informative. It was my favorite source. Martin Ryle’s Exploring Rural Ireland by Bicycle (Lincolnwood, Illinois, U.S.A.:Passport Books, 1994) is also excellent. I quite enjoyed reading Irish Miles by Irish writer Frank O’Connor. O’Connor writes with great honesty and humor about his bicycle trip through Ireland in the late 1940’s. Also, British travel writer Eric Newby’s Round Ireland in Low Gear is an often-comic account of his bike trip with his wife during four months of 1985-86. I also found the Lonely Planet: Ireland to be accurate and quite helpful.
The following journal, then, was written on notepad during my bike trip. Notes and slide film were mailed home along the route in order to save space. The journal of over 100 pages is accompanied by 134 linked slides taken on Nikon SLR during the trip. Well over 1,000 slides total were taken in this most photogenic country. Writing in the journal became a daily ritual that I enjoyed. I wrote in pubs, restaurants, parks, and B & B’s. It was a way for me to assess my day’s activities. It was a way for me to sort of talk to myself, and since I was traveling solo for much of the trip, 'talking to myself' was an important part of my personal therapy. I hope you enjoy the reading and the slides. I will be haunted forever by the experience.