Last of the Donkey Pilgrims

By Kevin O'Hara

Book Overview

A 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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765309831
• ISBN13: 9780765309839
• Release Date: February 2004
• Publisher: Forge Books
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.6" x 1.4" x 6.4"

Customer Reviews

Pace Yourself!

If you enjoy reading others' quirky adventures, have a love for the Irish, find donkeys to be cute critters, and curious as to what makes people pick up and go, THIS is your book. Easy reading allows you to follow the progress of the author and his pack mate as they attempt to circumnavigate the entire island of Ireland (north and south). You'll learn about Irish customs, colorful characters, some Irish history as each page quickly and easily turns itself. Great read for leisure at the beach, woods, or Covid confined. I give it 4 horseshoes!!!!!

From a Sci-Fi/Fantasy reader, nothing but praise

I seldom stray from the safe haven of sci-fi/fantasy books, but the comical cover of this book drew me in. The relatable author kept me in, and kept my heart warmed throughout. Just tonight, I finished this book. After a long and weary day at work, I thought of what I could do to relieve the heavy burden of stress upon me. As is my nightly ritual, I cracked this book and headed for the home stretch, the last few chapters. With each chapter finish, my burden was releived. I laughed out loud, I got a little weepy, but I loved every sentence.To the author - Thank you for finishing this book!

Wonderful Whimsical Book Of Self Discovery!

Only from a genuine son of Ireland could such a wonderfully whimsical book about a pilgrim's progress across its emerald expanse emerge. Kevin O'Harahas been alifelong friend of mine, as he grew up in a duplex on Wilson Street, a street or two away from me in quiet Pittsfield Massachusetts, the bright and charismatic son of struggling immigrant parents who had a heady brood of children, an Irish Catholic family so large that Kevin, Dermott and several other of the O'Hara boys caddied for golfers to get extra clothes money when barely into their teens. As a fellow afternoon paperboy along with his older brother for the local paper, the Berkshire Eagle, I gradually got to know the family pretty well, although they all went to the local parochial schools while we went to the public schools. And what a family of memorable characters they are! Returning from Vietnam on the late 1960s, like many of us, Kevin was restless, and while attending the local community college decided to reward himself after graduation in the registered nursing program with an extended sojourn in the 'olde country', attempting to find his roots and himself, and hoping to end the wanderlust by exorcising it in the flesh. And though his leap of exploration took some explaining to his new young wife, he managed to carry it all off with a bit of blarney and bravado, setting out on an impressively improvised journey of self-discovery even as he discovered the Irish people themselves. Indeed, what he discovered while shuffling across the land in the company of a donkey was the stuff of first novels; he was soon became as Irish as the rest of the denizens of the land of the little people, passing among them as one their own. After lolling about a bit and attempting rather humorously and disastrously to apprentice himself out as a thatcher, he eventually devises an ingenuous idea, to travel across the land with a donkey cart, retracing a old Irish tradition and living off the fabled generosity of the land and its people at the same time. In so doing, O'Hara unlocked a lot of doors, those of the trusting people who thrust open their doors and their hearths to him (and his four-legged friend), to aspects of his own personality that he had learned to bury over the years. On many levels then, this was a journey of discovery and liberation. His footloose perambulation became a publicized event, both in local Irish papers and intercommunity gossip, so he often found people alerted to his approach and more than willing to exchange some food and shelter for a chance to both learn more about his own journey and the discoveries he was making about their fellow countrymen. Amazingly, many of the common folk he spent time with had never been far over the horizon, and were immensely curious about what lay over it, as to whether the neighboring counties were as clannish as they said, etc. So this psychically healing American-born Vietnam vet came to act as an ambassador among the Irish for the Iris

Walking the Coast of Wisdom

At a time when changes in the culture of Ireland began making the legends of the Tinkers extinct, Kevin O'Hara took his experiences with alientation from the Viet Nam War and transformed his close observations of beautiful people and landscapes into a remarkable tale of healing and insight. Much like the Canterbury tales, O'hara's stories are enlightening, revealing, and close to the balance of human truth. He has captured the essence of places and experiences that will never pass this way again. These stories read aloud in a way that will make anyone an Irish story teller. It is eaily imagined that this book could make its way into every night time story, livingroom book club, library reading series, and literate pub in America, not to mention Ireland, where it captured the attention of an adoring public. These are the unique stories of a very unique man who has been spinning these tales for decades from well garnered truths and enrapturing his listeners with soul searching, vision, and amazing obsevations that is couched in deep humor. This is a book that cannot be missed and should belong in every book collection in America as well as across the pond beacuse this is werhe we find so much of what we need to recapture the humanity that has fast slipped away in the digital age.

Read this book!

This is an amazingly funny, cute, and touching account of a man's journey around the coast of Ireland. I toured the southern part of Ireland a couple of years ago and reading Mr. O'Hara's tale brought back memories of how beautiful the country is and how wonderful the people are. The book is combination of Irish history, geography, and humor. Reading this book makes me want to head to Ireland, find a donkey and cart, and set off on my own adventure!

Round Ireland with the Donkeyman

What makes Ireland Ireland? What makes the Irish Irish? Kevin O'Hara had reason to wonder, and it let him to wander, led him on the wonderful journey recounted in this book, looking for the remote old Ireland soon to be absorbed into the modern world. Though born to emigrating parents in England and raised in America, Kevin felt himself to be Irish and believed that if he came to know Ireland he would wind up knowing himself. So, on the brink of age 30 in 1979, with a stint in Vietnam and training as a psychiatric nurse behind him, Kevin embarked on a personal quest to discover the country of his ancestors and the nature of his heritage. A wacky back-to-the-land scheme to become an apprentice thatcher fell through like an old roof, but Kevin came back with an even wackier idea: He would get a donkey and cart, and walk the circumference of Ireland, living off the land and the hospitality of its people. In peregrination he would find his position in the world, among the people he would discover the person he was, and in contact with the blessed earth he would find the strength to complete not just this mad 8-month journey but the journey of his life as well. So off he set, saying good-bye to his grandmother in Roscommon and waving farewell to the crowd of cronies at Rattigan's bar, elder countrymen each with his own view of the Yank's quirky quest. Bets were laid on the outcome -- would he complete his circuit of the island or would he fail to make it out of the county? Was he idiotic or merely idiosyncratic, a wise fool or simply foolish? He was touched to be sure, be it with wonder or whimsy or wand of faerie, but could this oddfellow circle the island and find the center of the eccentric, the heart of a divided country? Now, 25 years later, readers can decide for themselves, since the story has finally been published. What happens when a city boy takes a donkey named Missie for a traveling companion? When a nightly roof over their heads depends on farmers and householders met along the road? When even their daily bread depends on the generosity of the land's people? When the road stretches endlessly through a magical landscape of serene beauty and ancient grievance? What adventures and pratfalls await the wanderer? Where will the road lead and where will it end? The answers lie within "Last of the Donkey Pilgrims." Full disclosure: Kevin O'Hara is a friend of mine, but I believe if you read this book, he will begin to feel like a friend of yours as well.