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About the Author
He studied horticulture at Writtle Agricultural College and Southend College of Technology (both in Essex) and also at Blackfriars College, London.
An abstemious non-smoker, whimsical, slightly eccentric, of strong nationalistic views though not unduly patriotic, a fair fraction of his life had been spent living in a semi-bohemian existence, particularly in recent years, during which he has travelled extensively throughout Ireland, with a bike, a tent, a sleeping bag and a few odds and ends. As an expert cyclist and camper, he has cycled, padded and camped extensively within every county in Ireland and in parts of Britain also.
His extensive travels and experiences have contributed in no small measure to the enhancement of his education, to instill in him a more profound understanding of his fellowmen and a finer appreciation of his native land.
He and his second wife now live in Glin, Co. Limerick, whilst his son, step-daughter and two grandsons are resident in England.
Sample Excerpts
Preface
Many people, (mostly aliens of course) have toured Ireland, either by push-bike or motorized vehicle or even by shanks-mare, whilst some of them have written about their experiences. Yours truly is one who has toured Ireland by both push-bike and shanks-mare, but I dare say that few people (if any) toured Ireland in the way that I did and did the things that I done. Did any of them, I wonder, camp in such places as burial grounds, at the verges of roadways and amidst bleak, wind-swept mountains? Had they ever to pitch a tent or dismantle one in pouring rain or in a gale-force wind? Was their tent ever flooded? Did any of them ever pitch a tent in darkness? Did any of them, I wonder, doss in such places as barns, sheds, derelict dwellings and even under bridges? Were any of them ever overtaken by darkness, I wonder? Had they ever to footslog for miles, whilst simultaneously wheeling an overloaded and top-heavy bike? Were they harassed by cops, ticked-off by landowners for camping on their land, invariably pestered and annoyed by delinquent youngsters, troubled by cattle and bitten by dogs? Did any of them, I wonder, enter Northern Ireland from the Irish Republic via a so-called unapproved road (a prohibited border crossing with a barricade erected across it) and under the noses of the appropriate and respective authorities, such as customs, cops, and honky-tonks? Yes, the author endured and encountered all of the foregoing and much more besides.
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By Bike & Foot through Erin
By
Thomas Culhane
ISBN: 978-1-907107-07-8
Price: €22.00 |
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Tom Culhane was born at the now defunct Bedford Row Hospital, Limerick City in 1934, son of a farmer and a man who remained a bachelor until the age of 46. He was brought up at Mount Pleasant in the parish of Robertstown, a rural area lying between the small towns of Askeaton and Foynes, receiving his education at local primary, secondary and technical schools. Most of his working life has been spent as a seaman and a gardener, with intermittent spells as a factory hand. |
