A Man, a Dog and Nun go into a bar...

I've always had a slight obsession with the Irish. Not in a weird way. I don't hear an Irish accent in the street and then follow the person for hours hoping that they'll invite me out for a drink. I've just always enjoyed their way of life. But mostly it's the accent. So when I was looking for a new book to read, McCarthy's Bar grabbed my attention. Not only because there was a man, a dog and a nun on the front (a hilarious opportunity for a joke, I just can't think of one), but also because it was apparently 'a journey of discovery through Ireland'. This seemed like something I would enjoy doing, but lacking the money and the time, the next best thing seemed to be reading about someone else doing it.

The author of the book is one Pete McCarthy (who's was apparently quite famous on the comedy circuit several years ago, so says Wikipedia), and no he didn't write the book and then change his name to make the whole thing rather convenient. His aim was to drive around Ireland, going into every bar called McCarthy, or MacCarthy, or MicCathy or anything beginning with M. Or even N at a stretch. Basically he wanted to go around Ireland drinking beer and so came up with an excuse to do it. The man's a genius.

It turns out there's a lot to do in Ireland. If you like drinking and ruins. Which I don't mind personally. Drinking on ruins is actually one of my favourite past-times. But written by a lot of people this book would be dull as pancakes without toppings. Although McCarthy's Bar isn't laugh a minute, it's a pleasant enough read with some quite amusing anecdotes (normally involving beer) and naturally, being a country verging on being issolated from the rest of the world, some very interesting people. At points you can feel McCarthy's dispair at the insanity of some of the population. People who would make me run for the hills. Or the nearest airport.

If you're not into travel books then this one isn't going to change your opinion. It's pretty standard and occasionally gets too set in it's pace. But it's worth a read if Ireland's your sort of place and especially worth it if you're planning a trip there, or, like me, want to pretend you are.

Wait! I thought of one! A man, a dog and a nun go into a bar. The dog asks the nun, 'Are you allowed in here? I thought nuns weren't allowed to drink?' and the nun replied 'Holy cow! A talking dog!' See. I can be funny...