When I published this little book in 1990 it was bought and read mainly by friends and friends of friends, so it didn't need much of a preface. Here on the web a short introduction will probably help.

In 1989 my wife and I went to Ireland for vacation. I think she went mainly to indulge my desire to see the land of my ancestors; if she'd known how cold August can be she might have gone elsewhere. Still, she bore it well, even when I brought her to the strangest island either of us had ever seen: Inisheer.

It was on that bare stone of an island that I decided to write this book, when we were trapped inside by the rain and cold. She slept. I read, and when there was nothing more to read, I began making notes.

When I put the files here on the web, I thought that I could keep my anonymity and hide behind a pseudonym, but then no one would have understood my fascination with St. Kevin, or why I cared that the town of Macroom was full of Kellehers. Still, with anonymity in mind, I expunged my wife's name since she is no longer my wife. I call her My Wife At That Time, or Mywatt for short. No disrespect or unkindness is intended.

Two things that are missing from this presentation, I owe in fact to her: a map of the trip and the acupressure diagram mentioned in Chapter 7. She had drawn both, but I no longer have a printed copy of the book. By and by I will supply new illustrations. In the meantime, the reader will have to rely on the written explanation for finding the seasickness point. As to the map, it may be enough to say that Ireland is shaped something like a small bear sitting upright and facing left. Dublin is in the small of his back. We drove up the spine, over the head and down the front to the center of his chest. We then cut inward to the heart, then forward again to the waist. After that, we returned along his waistline to Dublin.

Kevin Kelleher