Every author needs inspiration and Pete McCarthy inspired me. McCarthy's Bar is a fantastically gentle and funny book; it grabs you from the first page. It documents his travels along the west coast of Ireland reminding those who have been what a wonderful journey that is, and making those that have not been reach for their travel brochures.
He was a successful travel writer and broadcaster and travelled the world with a programme called Travelog on Channel 4. Pete loved his time there and said "We travelled to Zanzibar and China, Fiji and Corsica, Costa Rica and Laos; stood on the edge of volcanoes, had lunch with heroes of the Crete resistance, and got caught up in a military coup in Vanuatu". This statement emphasises his passion to travel, get to know other cultures and people and undergo adventures - but things always drew him back to Ireland.
Pete has a number of travel rules e.g. Rule 8: Never pass a bar that has your name on it and Rule 13: Never ask a British Airways hostess for another glass of wine until she's good and ready. These rules appear at the start of the book - how could you not want to read on.
Pete was planning to do a follow on book about the fun side and the historical side of Northern Ireland (my part of the world). Sadly Pete McCarthy died in October 2004 before he could do it.
I thank Pete for this great book (and his scond book The Road to McCarthy). Inspirational.
