When the award-winning Irish Times’ journalist Rosita Boland was a schoolgirl she had? in common with all Irish children?a map of Ireland. Iconic in its pinks, greens and yellows, the Educational Company map was a staple of the Irish schoolhouse. As the author matured and changed, so did the unique country she grew to know first-hand. With deep affection and curiosity, she followed her very own map from those by-gone schooldays to take the reader on a tour of Ireland, a tour like no other. In 32 colorful essays, Rosita visits each of the counties on the island and brings back tales so unusual that they could only be ‘of Ireland.’ This is not your ordinary travel guide! From the monkey who crash-landed an American B-17 en route from Marrakesh to the French mausoleum in Monivea; from Europe’s most westerly , and windiest weather station to the Tayto factory in Armagh, this delightful book promises a most unusual, and engaging, exploration of a mad and marvelous land.