Stephen Gwynn

The Charm of Ireland - Her Places of Beauty, Entertainment, Sport and Historic Association Stephen Gwynn

PREFACE - When i was asked to revise this book, and, if I chose, to rewrite it, I had very little clear recollection of what it contained. Seven years is a long time, and I had written many books, and innumerable articles about Irish subjects so I went back to it with an open mind. My conclusion was that the book had been carefully planned with very full knowledge, and planned to be of use. I had written, of course, in the first instance about the things which interested myself for I wanted the book to be readable, and there is no way to be readable except to write about what interests you. But scores upon scores of letters, mostly from strangers, in the five and thirty years since my first book on Ireland Highways and Byways in Donegal was published had shown me what people wanted to be told and liked to be told and these were at least a subconscious guide to me. But though I was writing for tourists, I could not and would not write as a tourist. I have done that in other lands, and know that in such writing there is a sharpness and freshness of contact not attainable for the man who has to describe the country in which he grew up. Still, in lands where I was a tourist my enjoyment of a scene was always heightened if I could connect it with past history, and I was grateful to the guide-books which furnished the means to do this. If they bored me I could always skip. That is the advantage of the written guide we can turn our backs on it without rudeness. I invite my readers to follow this example. At least I can assure them that the guide who offers himself in these pages is not only nor chiefly concerned with past history. ... Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are now republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.