A Connemara Journey is Hilary Bradt’s classic account of a journey through Ireland on horseback in the 1980s published for the first time in a single volume.
In 1984, Hilary Bradt achieved an ambition from her pony-mad childhood to undertake a long-distance ride. Using her experience of horsepacking in Peru with saddlebags imported from America, she and her pony set forth with no decent maps, and only a vague idea of the route. The book is also a portrait of a vanished rural Ireland before the Celtic Tiger era, built up from descriptions and conversations with local people.
The journey takes Bradt a thousand miles south from county Mayo, around the peninsulas of Kerry and Cork, and inland towards Waterford.
-by Hilary Bradt
From my horsey childhood growing up in the 1950s and addicted to pony books, I had dreamed of having my own pony and going on a long-distance ride. No more riding-school hour doing a circular hack, but days out exploring the countryside with my perfect pony. This finally came to pass in 1984 when I found myself single again and ready to embark on this greatest of all adventures.
First I had to decide where to go.
I know, Iceland! It had all the requirements: lovely scenery, a tough breed of native pony and friendly people who generally spoke English. I’d been there and loved it. I tried out the idea by rather casually mentioning in my Christmas letter that I was going to buy a native pony in Iceland and do a long-distance ride. I received a reply from a horsey friend: “Ireland! What a great idea. A Connemara pony would be strong enough and it’s such a beautiful country. And they love horses.” Oh. My handwriting… well, let’s think about Ireland then. It had never come into my reckoning, perhaps because of a very wet family holiday there where we children had sulkily squelched up Ireland’s highest mountain in mist and rain. But now, suddenly, everything fell into place. Ireland was an ideal choice. Scenic, safe, English-speaking … perfect!
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