New book by ex ESB Retail man to help Romanian orphans
January 26th 2007 saw the launch by Dublin MEP Mariead Mc Guiness of a new book from an early retired ESB man and Irish travel writer, John Mulligan. John is the author of Dancing on the Waves, the widely acclaimed book on Romania's orphanages and the attempts made by Irish volunteers to improve the lives of the young people who were incarcerated in them. His new book is called Following in the Footsteps of the Four Famous Flannerys and is published by the Connaught Telegraph.
The author tells how he set out to walk across Ireland from Dublin to Newport. His trip took him along the Royal Canal Way as far as Termonbarry in Roscommon, and then followed a maze of back roads and quiet lanes heading west via Strokestown, Charlestown, Foxford and Pontoon, finishing up at the harbour wall in Newport. This is a great book for the armchair traveller or for anyone who wants to walk the Royal Canal Way or even the longer coast-to-coast route. If you live anywhere along the author's route, you will certainly be interested to know how a walker sees your area as he passes by your door
The book is the only walker's guide to the Royal Canal; in addition, it gives a fascinating insight into the fortunes of four young Irishmen in the years following the famine. A lot has been written about the famine and its effect on our country, but it is seldom that we see a story that follows the fortunes of one small band of emigrants to this extent.
There is another aspect to this book that is worthy of note. Along with the author, the publishers are pleased to have been able to pass all the royalties and profits from this book to the Aurelia Trust, an Irish voluntary group that is at the forefront of reform of the orphanage sector in Romania. In particular, their work with disabled children and young adults in institutions is groundbreaking and has provided a vastly improved quality of life for many of these very deprived young people, innocent victims of a regime that did not value many of the weaker members of society and effectively left them to rot in terrible conditions.
Groups like the Aurelia Trust have made huge inroads into this problem at local and national level in Romania, and they deserve our support. They are all volunteers, spending nothing on overheads and paying all airfares and other costs from their own pockets, with 100% of all fundraised money going direct to aid the beneficiaries of their projects
Following in the Footsteps of the Four Famous Flannerys is in all good bookshops at €10. Help a good cause while enjoying one of the best Irish travel books around.
