Your cart

Close

Total AUD

Checkout

Imprint

  • Sceptre
  • Hodder & Stoughton

McCarthy's Bar: A Journey of Discovery in Ireland

Pete Mccarthy

12 Reviews

Rated 0

Prose: non-fiction, Travel & holiday, Travel writing

Number One in Ireland!

Number Two in Australia!

Number Ten in Britain!

Pete McCarthy's tale of his hilarious trip around Ireland has gained thousands of fans all over the world.

Pete was born in Warrington to an Irish mother and an English father and spent happy summer holidays in Cork. Years later, reflecting on the many places he has visited as a travel broadcaster, Pete admits that he feels more at home in Ireland than anywhere. To find out whether this is due to rose-coloured spectacles or to a deeper tie with the country of his ancestors, Pete sets off on a trip around Ireland and discovers that it has changed in surprising ways. Firstly obeying the rule 'never pass a pub with your name on it', he encounters McCarthy's bars up and down the land, and meets English hippies, German musicians, married priests and many others. A funny, affectionate look at one of the most popular countries in the world.

Read More Read Less

Praise for McCarthy's Bar: A Journey of Discovery in Ireland

  • 'In its freewheeling, informal, jokey way, it is nothing less than an portrait of modern Ireland, in all its splendid contradictions. For a study on Ireland and Irishness, the book is exhilaratingly cosmopolitan in outlook ... Television's loss has been literature's gain.'

  • Telegraph

  • McCarthy is a hilariously funny writer - The Times

  • An engaging, evocative book. Four out of five stars - Daily Mail

  • 'Pete McCarthy is a funny man. You will know this if you have seen his award-winning television work or heard him on the radio ... It is impossible to mention comic travels without bringing up the name of Bill Bryson. McCarthy is more to my liking: less smug, delivering more of a sense that he actually noticed the places he passed through without making them seem a freak show. And funny enough to have my neighbours pulling long faces as I sniggered on the Tube the other day.'

  • Sunday Times

  • 'A genuinely funny, yet affectionate and informative portrait of the west of Ireland. His book is a collection of wry observations and anecdotes, a skill he developed presenting eight series of Travelog on Channel 4 ... I can guarantee a read that will make you laugh out loud'

  • Sussex Life

  • Hilarious, informed and intelligent ... a wonderful debut. By the end, we, too, would like to move to Ireland - Amazon.co.uk

  • One of the funniest writers around. If you were asked to choose the ideal travelling companion, you would put Pete McCarthy near the top of your list. But if he doesn't happen to be available, MCCARTHY'S BAR is the next best thing - Yorkshire Evening Post

  • 'Comedian and broadcaster McCarthy takes a hysterical journey through the Ireland of his childhood. An extremely enjoyable book that had me rolling with laughter one minute and deep in thought the next'

  • The Latest (Brighton)

Read More Read Less

Pete Mccarthy

Pete McCarthy wrote and performed many series for radio and television, including 'Desperately Seeking Something', 'Country Tracks' and 'Travelog', for which he has won the Travelex Award for Best TV Writer. MCCARTHY'S BAR sold nearly a million copies and won him the newcomer of the year prize at the British Book Awards in 2002. He passed away in 2002.

This website uses cookies. Using this website means you are okay with this but you can find out more and learn how to manage your cookie choices here.Close cookie policy overlay