January 2, 2012

Extraordinary Dreams of an Ireland Traveler
Rosemary Adkins
ISBN 9781935586531
Aviva Publishing (2012)

New Ireland Travel Guide Offers Up Close and Personal View of the Emerald Isle

As someone who has visited Ireland myself, I’ve sort of checked it off my list. It’s a beautiful country filled with wonderfully friendly people, but there are so many other wonderful places to see in the world that after one visit, I felt I had “done” Ireland.

But Rosemary Adkins’ “Extraordinary Dreams of an Ireland Traveler” has proven me wrong by introducing me to many places I missed and now want to go back to see. Rosemary has not written the ordinary travel book filled with facts, figures, dates, and sites to see. All of that is included in this book, but she also offers us her personal preferences, her likes and dislikes, tips on what not to miss, and tips on what she and her husband, Doug, would not do again or where they would not repeat a visit.

Rosemary is not an expert on Ireland or travel writing, but that has advantages in itself because she is like most of us when we visit Ireland for the first time. Her trip to Ireland in the summer of 2011 was a lifelong dream and a surprise to celebrate her husband’s retirement and their anniversary. She thoroughly researched the trip before she went, and she made contacts with people at many of the finest hotels and most celebrated tourist stops, but she also offers us a person’s first impressions of the Emerald Isle. Her experiences, consequently, are more likely to be those of anyone else contemplating a first trip to Ireland, which makes the book less overwhelming than many, and more like having a personal friend along to share the journey.

Of course, all the wonderful sites of Ireland are presented, and in vivid colored photographs. These photos, many of places I had not visited or not seen in such depth as Rosemary, made me want to journey back to Ireland. I learned a great deal more about Dublin and saw sites in this book I had missed on my own journey. Readers will be awed by beautiful Kylemore Abbey, enjoy a boat ride to the Cliffs of Moher, maybe consider twice sailing to the Aran Islands—not a good experience for Rosemary due to seasickness—enjoy a banquet at Bunratty Castle, and visit numerous wonderful Irish towns from Killarney to Galway. Rosemary also speculates on such Irish mysteries as just who was the real Molly Malone, known for selling “Cockles and Mussels, Alive Alive-O” and what are the origins of the Blarney Stone.

All the beautiful sites of Ireland discussed in this book are not to be missed, but what makes a visit to Ireland special are its people. On my own visit, I found the Irish to be the friendliest people in the world; if you asked for directions, they wouldn’t tell you how to get somewhere—they would take you by the hand and walk you there. I was glad to know Rosemary had the same experience on her visit. In fact, Rosemary got to know many of the local people well and interviewed them for her book, including employees at the Blarney Woollen Mills, hotel managers, and creative fashion designers; they all share their stories and reflect a true love to assist visitors to their beautiful country.

I recommend that if you go to Ireland, you read this book before you go and that you take it with you. In conjunction with the places she visited, Rosemary provides several special rates and offers to her readers, and at least one offer requires you to show the copy of this book. If you’re not going to Ireland, visit it vicariously through the pages of “Extraordinary Dreams of an Ireland Traveler”—it may jump start or create a new dream for you. And if you’ve already been to “that dear land across the sea,” well, of course, you will enjoy reliving your visit and discovering how Rosemary and Doug’s visit compares to your own.

Be sure to visit www.ExtraordinaryIreland.com for more information about the book as well as up-to-date information on original Irish items for sale and the latest offers for tourists.

— Tyler R. Tichelaar, Ph.D., and author of the award-winning “Narrow Lives”