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Footloose in the West of Ireland
Mike Harding
Mike Harding's *Footloose in the West of Ireland* is a warm, wry travel book by a man better known in Britain as a comedian and folk musician. Harding — a Manchester-born entertainer with deep Irish roots and a genuine love of the country — sets off on foot and by back road through Connemara, Mayo, Clare and the western seaboard, and reports back with the timing of a stand-up and the eye of a folklorist. Published by Michael Joseph in 1996, it mixes landscape, pub conversation, music, and history into the kind of companionable ramble that makes you want to book a ticket. It is unpretentious and often very funny, but it takes the west of Ireland's beauty and hardship seriously too. Good company for anyone drawn to the Atlantic edge of Europe.
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The author
Mike Harding (born 1944) is an English comedian, singer, musician, photographer, and broadcaster from Manchester, long associated with British folk music and for years the host of BBC Radio 2's folk programme. Of Irish descent himself, he has returned to Ireland repeatedly in his writing and music.
The book
Published by Michael Joseph in 1996, Footloose in the West of Ireland follows Harding across the western counties — Connemara, Mayo, Clare and their neighbours — largely on foot and by minor road. He gathers landscape, local characters, traditional music, and scraps of history into a loose, affectionate travelogue, leavened throughout by his comedian's ear for a good story.
How it reads
It reads quickly and generously, closer to good pub company than to a guidebook. The specific pubs and prices have dated, but the humour and the landscape have not, and it still conveys the pull of the Atlantic west better than many more earnest accounts.
For more context
It sits comfortably alongside other affectionate outsider accounts of the west of Ireland, and readers drawn to the region's music will find Harding an especially reliable guide.
Sources
- Type
- Book
- Author / Maker
- Mike Harding
- Publisher
- Michael Joseph (Penguin)
- Place of publication
- London
- Year
- 1996
- ISBN
- 0718133595
- Format
- Hardcover
- Shelf
- Travel & Exploration
- Location
- Maine
Places