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Last of the Donkey Pilgrims by Kevin O'Hara
Book Summary InformationAuthor: Kevin O'Hara Edition: Paperback Published: 2005-02-01 ISBN: 076530984X Number of pages: 432 Publisher: Forge Books
Book Reviews of Last of the Donkey PilgrimsBook Review: About Ireland we went...with Missie for Company Summary: 5 Stars...in preparation for my long overdue personal visit to Ireland a number of books including `Last of the Donkey Pilgrims' by Kevin O'Hara (www.kevin-ohara.com) were purchased online through Amazon.com for shipment to the parched distant locale of Doha...another Qatar `Transient', he being a native of Ireland, last 31 August had kindly written an Itinerary of Travel setting off westward from Dublin to Galway, proposing then a sweep about the coastal extremes of Eire on a circuitous route in return to Dublin a fortnight later...
New Zealand born with Great Grandfather Irish ancestry (Co. Tyrone), some years since I had the privilege of living on a long established property in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, created by it's owner `in the manner of England', and on which co-resided an elderly Donkey of much spirited antic, mannerism and personality - an endearing memory remains of that acquaintance in those bygone days, and influenced the choice that the Donkey odyssey would be my final read...my reward was to discover an absorbing chronicle of Kevin's 1979 1800 mile trek around the peripheral coast of Ireland, walking alongside his donkey Missie `Long-Ears' Mickdermott yoked to her cart, and written in 2004, 25 years after the doing...
...an inspired achievement to be applauded, and for me a delight to share the journey by way of an intimately personable published recall of such a grand meander through a land and people of a then traditional lifestyle which soon would substantially fade away into history...Ireland 2008 surpassed my any and every expectation - time and change may have advanced apace since the Nation in attaining EU membership emerged from being a `third world' Country, bringing financial advantage in some quarters and also significantly transforming the landscape and makeup of the populace, but the welcome and essence of the Irish people as acutely portrayed by the innumerable encounters and acquaintances along Kevin O'Hara's wandering way, we found to be very much the same...
...the book and infectious spirit of Missie accompanied us throughout as by car we drove, blessed I must add with only fine weather, our brief excursion along some of the highways and byways that shared partial commonality with the much earlier passage the Donkeyman and his travelling companion together had traipsed many years prior...there were particular moments which brought upon me a quiet smile with vivid memory of what I had read; hearing the call of the Cuckoo at Inishmore and Doolin - boarding the Killimer to Tarbert ferry, then later that same day driving through Abhainn an Ghleanna (running at but a shallow flow) on the road to Slea Head, Missie's obstinant reluctance to go on in chancing upon those two same `obstacles' came to mind...we sought out and had the pleasure of meeting Robert Shannon, mentioned in the book who happily recounted the long ago arrival of Missie in lovely Doolin - affection for Kevin and his roving partner lingers...
...having partaken of the ready welcome, spirit, beauty and abundant joys of Ireland, a return is inevitable - likely to be sooner rather than later I would venture...similarly I am driven to pick up and once more read `Last of the Donkey Pilgrims' - my immense pleasure and appreciation of the Tale at first take will assuredly be all the greater at a second reading, enhanced further by familiarity and insight gained from our recent visit...
Lindsay McLean
Doha, State of Qatar
16 June, 2008
Summary of Last of the Donkey PilgrimsA heartwarming story of a man who journeys to the land of his people to discover what kind of man he is . . . and, more to the point, what kind of man he could become
Kevin O'Hara was a man who was at the crossroads of life. Newly married to a beautiful woman, Kevin found himself full of rage and pain. A former soldier, he had seen the horrors of war and was unable to let those sorrows go . . . and his pain threatened to destroy not only his own happiness but any chance of a happy life with his wife. If he couldn't fix what was broken in his own heart, he'd be lost.
In desperation Kevin traveled to Ireland, the land of his people, to seek some sort of balm for his pain. It was there, amid the impossibly green fields, open skies, and glad hearts of his friends and relatives, that Kevin began to see the possibilities of joy again.
And it was there that he formed a wonderfully daft plan. The age-old method of traveling by donkey cart was beginning to disappear from the Irish countryside as modern life crowded in. What better way, Kevin thought, to experience the beauty of Ireland than to travel the length of the land in the old way---man and donkey, drinking in the sights and sounds of the country. Among the Irish, opinion was divided as to whether Kevin was a madman . . . or a saint. Bets were made, and most of the locals near his grandmother's farmhouse predicted that this strange American wouldn't even get out of the county, much less circle the entire island.
But Kevin had a vision in his head, and a goal. He wanted to make things right for himself, heal his heart, and return to his beloved wife. And so, with Missy, the shaggy brown mare by his side, he set off on that long mad walk, an eighteen-hundred-mile trek that would take months.
Along the way Kevin would meet some incredible characters, endure hardships (and moments of high drama . . . and very low comedy), and find the Irish in all their glory. And he would find himself.
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