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McCarthy's Bar: A Journey of Discovery In Ireland Paperback – March 3, 2003

by Pete McCarthy (Author)

159 customer reviews

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The #1 Irish Bestseller

Despite the many exotic places Pete McCarthy has visited, he finds that nowhere else can match the particular magic of Ireland, his mother's homeland. In McCarthy's Bar, his journey begins in Cork and continues along the west coast to Donegal in the north. Traveling through spectacular landscapes, but at all times obeying the rule, "never pass a bar that has your name on it," he encounters McCarthy's bars up and down the land, meeting fascinating people before pleading to be let out at four o'clock in the morning.

Written by someone who is at once an insider and an outside, McCarthy's Bar is a wonderfully funny and affectionate portrait of a rapidly changing country.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“The funniest book I've read this year.” ―John Walsh, The Independent (U.K.)

“A travelogue of Ireland told through great set pieces and jokes...The author seems to have a natural aptitude for meeting funny, strange, and fascinating people. This book will make you laugh out loud.” ―The Irish News (Belfast)

“McCarthy's Bar is so unrelentingly funny it needs to be taken in small doses...When it comes to playing stooge in ridiculous travel situations, he makes Michael Palin look shy and Bill Bryson positively somber.” ―The Australian

“[McCarthy] is a worthy addition to the ranks of P.J. O'Rourke, Bill Bryson and Peter Mayle...He narrates a series of hilarious and surprising adventures with an acerbic eye and a comedian's gift for timing...This wonderful debut will appeal to readers who are looking for a well-observed travel guide, or simply for its incisive hilarity.” ―Publishers Weekly

“[McCarthy's] chronicle of what he heard in these neighborhood gathering places/social clubs/confessionals was quintessentially Irish, which means hilarious, sentimental, surprising and revealing.” ―The Dallas Morning News

“McCarthy makes an amiable traveling companion - witty, affable, with an endearing knack for meeting, or attracting, the most eccentric characters...With self-deprecating wit and a sly sense of the absurd, he makes even the most mundane experience entertaining.” ―Booklist

“Unfailingly sharp, good-humored, and offbeat: sure to please Celtophiles of every greenish hue.” ―Kirkus Reviews

“Fans of Bill Bryson will enjoy reading McCarthy's droll narrative of his rediscovery of his family's roots in Ireland.” ―Library Journal

“McCarthy's Bar is as far removed from the staid, traditional travel guide as one likely could get and still learn where to go, what to see, how much it might cost and what to expect.” ―San Antonio Express News

From the Inside Flap

The #1 Irish Bestseller

Despite the many exotic places Pete McCarthy has visited, he finds that nowhere else can match the particular magic of Ireland, his mother's homeland. In McCarthy's Bar, his journey begins in Cork and continues along the west coast to Donegal in the north. Traveling through spectacular landscapes, but at all times obeying the rule, "never pass a bar that has your name on it," he encounters McCarthy's bars up and down the land, meeting fascinating people before pleading to be let out at four o'clock in the morning.

Written by someone who is at once an insider and an outside, McCarthy's Bar is a wonderfully funny and affectionate portrait of a rapidly changing country.

Praise for Pete McCarthy and McCarthy's Bar:

"[McCarthy] is a worthy addition to the ranks of P.J. O'Rourke, Bill Bryson and Peter Mayle...He narrates a series of hilarious and surprising adventures with an acerbic eye and a comedian's gift for timing...This wonderful debut will appeal to readers who are looking for a well-observed travel guide, or simply for its incisive hilarity." - Publishers Weekly

"[McCarthy's] chronicle of what he heard in these neighborhood gathering places/social clubs/confessionals was quintessentially Irish, which means hilarious, sentimental, surprising and revealing." - The Dallas Morning News

"McCarthy makes an amiable traveling companion - witty, affable, with an endearing knack for meeting, or attracting, the most eccentric characters...With self-deprecating wit and a sly sense of the absurd, he makes even the most mundane experience entertaining." - Booklist

"Unfailingly sharp, good-humored, and offbeat: sure to please Celtophiles of every greenish hue." - Kirkus Reviews

"Fans of Bill Bryson will enjoy reading McCarthy's droll narrative of his rediscovery of his family's roots in Ireland." - Library Journal

"McCarthy's Bar is as far removed from the staid, traditional travel guide as one likely could get and still learn where to go, what to see, how much it might cost and what to expect." - San Antonio Express News

See all Editorial Reviews

Product details

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; Reprint edition (March 3, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312311338
ISBN-13: 978-0312311339
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 159 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,149 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #32 in Books > Travel > Europe > Ireland > General
- #307 in Books > Travel > Travel Writing
- #324 in Books > Reference > Writing, Research & Publishing Guides > Writing > Travel

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Mr. Chris

It's Okay

May 17, 2018

Verified Purchase

I own the book, but haven't read it (yet). In lieu of reading the book, I bought the audio CD. It took a good month to get to me since it shipped from the UK. That doesn't affect its rating - I'm just saying. To my surprise, the CD is only 2 audio discs in length. It says it's abridged, but it leaves me wondering HOW abridged or if the book book is truly that short? I don't know. The product is fine; the CDs played. The story was fun and funny but was a little all over the place for my liking. The humor was good, dry, accessible. Some of the stories were interesting. I didn't really care for the pilgrimage tale, and it seemed to take up a lot of play time that I think could have been better spent on anything else. A friend of mine recommended this book to me before my wife and I's trip to Ireland. I didn't have time to read it, and I got this audio version more than a year after having gone there. Entertaining? Yes. Would I recommend it to someone who loves Ireland? Yes. Would I recommend it to someone who's never been in a preparatory capacity? Nah.

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Ms. Pocketbook

Be prepared to laugh out loud

June 21, 2013

Verified Purchase

It's a little embarrassing to be reading a book in a public place & guffaw aloud. It attracts attention but no matter, this book is simply too funny to allow yourself to care what others think. My husband & I enjoyed this book tremendously & decided to go to McCarthy's Bar in Castletown-Berehaven on our recent trip to Ireland. It's actually Maccarthy's Bar & looks exactly the same outside. We met Adrienne Maccarthy 4th generation owner, who is mentioned in the Acknowledgements section of Pete's book. She noted that my son & I said we were home when we saw the Kerry Red Stag Family Crest on the wall. We talked to Adrienne for an hour or so & when it came time to move on she refused to allow us to pay because we're family & said let's go outside for photos. The pooch on the cover is her recently deceased dog, Bailey. She said Pete was a great guy & stayed in touch often. We were so glad that the way Pete described the town, the people & the other areas in the book are exactly the same now as it was when he originally wrote the book back some 10+ years ago. If you enjoy English & Irish humor, you will enjoy this book....just be prepared for people to "give you the look" when you find yourself unable to surpress the laughter that's bubbling out of you.

5 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Required reading before any trip to Ireland!

July 6, 2016

Verified Purchase

I give this book to all my American friends before their first trip to Ireland. Offers great insight to our Irish sense of humour!

4 people found this helpful

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A. Devlin

Wonderful entertainment

February 3, 2011

Verified Purchase

This is one of the funniest and most entertaining books I have read. I have bought copies for more than a dozen of my friends who visited Ireland or intend to or claim the nationality. Pete McCarthy comes through a lovely man and a clever observer of human behavior with an abundant ability to see the fun in people and to join in their enjoyment himself. I wish I could have met him in a McCarthy's bar somewhere but alas he passed much too young. If you are one of Ireland's potential visitors, this book will speed up your plans. Even if you are not, this book is a great experience; a great laugh. I read a chapter again now and then if I have a sit down day. Highly recommended.

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Dana Stabenow

McCarthy's Bar

November 8, 2006

Verified Purchase

I love travel books. I have loved them with a perfectly idiotic passion ever since I was a kid in Seldovia and read The Royal Road to Romance by Richard Halliburton and with him climbed the Matterhorn and worked on a tramp steamer through the Suez Canal and battled cobras in India and was boarded by pirates in the South China Sea. After that I was incapable of walking out to Linder's Beach and looking at the way Cook Inlet fell off into the Gulf of Alaska without wondering where else I could get to if I set sail for the horizon.

Richard Halliburton taught me that the best travel books are written by someone you wish had waited for you to come with. An Englishman of Irish descent, Pete McCarthy descends upon the island of Ireland with Rules of Travel, such as the eighth rule, Never Pass a Bar That Has Your Name On It. He never does, and in between never passing those bars among other things he climbs Croagh Patrick and goes on a medival purgatory, I think mostly so we don't have to. If you never wanted to go to Ireland, don't read this book because there will be no stopping you once you have.

4 people found this helpful

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dabbler

Good fun read.

January 23, 2017

Verified Purchase

Whimsical and charming most of the time. The section on the religious retreat with fasting and exhaustion was intriguing. Now and then Mr. McCarthy is unkind and judgmental.

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Great travel stories from a British comedian traveling in Ireland.

December 20, 2017

Verified Purchase

Great read. I love books on travel stories. Very similar to the writings of Bill Bryson. Highly recommended if you like his stuff.

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lisbeth norskov andersen

Sharp, funny and wise...

September 17, 2009

Verified Purchase

Oh, it's a great little book packed with more or less respectfull comments on Ireland, the Irish and life itself in all it's strangenes. Can actually be used as a travel guide to both common known and less known and absolutely unknown sights in Ireland, but You might not be able to down quite as many pints as McCarthy as You follow his tracks from pub to pub - and he only or mostly anyway visited the ones with his surname on the sign. There is sort of a small theme about Noel Redding, the now late bass player with The Jimi hendrix Experience, who lived in Clonakilty, South West Cork, Ireland, for many years, and that is why I by chance and Google stumbled into this book. I did an interview with Noel back in 1992 and sort of kept in contact. He did actually mention something about a writer, he'd met in 'his' pub way out in the nothingness of rural Cork. Must have been McCarthy. Anyway. This book i certainly not a thriller, McCarthy sure takes his time, but he is a funny and wise and sharp travel companion - even if you just read a chapter or two in bed at night.

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