Recently, I’ve read what I think must be the most ironic, sometimes even cynic book, I’ve ever read. However, McCarthy’s Bar is a beautiful journey through Ireland and a must-read for everyone interested in that beautiful country. The book’s written by Pete McCarthy, a British journalist, who has an Irish mother but who was raised in England. In this book, he travels back to the country of his mother, starting in Cork and from there travelling through all of the other counties. He does this in an old Volvo he calls ‘the Tank’, guided by at least 40 year old travel guides and, moreover a list of rules he says he should abide to. Most important of these rules is “should you ever come across a bar that bears your own name, you should always enter it”. Knowing that in Cork almost half of the people are called “McCarthy” or some derivative of that name, Pete, ends up entering lots of bars. In every one, trying to get closer to answer to his biggest question: “is the warmth I feel for this country and its people caused by my genetic bond or is it caused by a non-existing commercialised Irish standard-culture?” Apart from being a witty, humouristic and at least ironic narrative, making fun of every foreigner including the British, McCarthy’s bar is also an alternative travel guide, bringing you along all places worth seeing in Ireland, some more known than others. Also, it’s a delightful description of the Irish as a people, their curiosities, their warmth and most of all their hospitality.
2nd Jan, 2008