If any place on earth has a unique spirit that every visitor notices immediately, it is rural Ireland. There is something about the intense green of the fields and hillsides and the harsh beauty of the mountains and coasts of Ireland, lit by muted Atlantic light, which lays its magic on everyone who is lucky enough to know this mystical country.

This book reveals Ireland's greatest national asset: the people who play music and tell tall tales in the pubs and back kitchens, lean over farm gates for a minute's chat that lasts an hour, and ask the stranger in for a cup of tea that turns into an evening ceilidh, if not a lifelong friendship.

Christopher Somerville has conducted a passionate love affair with Ireland for many years. In The Spirit of Ireland he writes, lyrically and with characteristic humor, about the landscape of a country that he has walked and explored from end to end—the rugged, mountainous west of Connemara and Mayo, the music pubs of County Clare, the limestone hills of the Burren, the vast peat bogs of the Midlands, the ceilidh houses and small farms of the North, the holy wells and standing stones that are still visited for cures and inspiration.

Above all, Somerville celebrates the people of north and south Ireland: their humor that varies from gentle to black, their tremendous, unstinting hospitality, the hard times they have suffered and are still undergoing, and the enduring relationship they have with the land, the weather, the seasons, and the other rhythms of rural life.

The evocative text is enhanced throughout by Chris Coe's breathtaking array of characteristic and atmospheric images that bring to life the rich appeal of this enchanting country.

Christopher Somerville is a respected travel writer and a popular television and radio personality, with a special interest in walking and countryside matters. Other publications include Walking Old Railways, Coastal Walks in England, and Wales, Country Walks near London and Images of Rural Britain. He lives in Bristol, England.

Chris Coe specializes in landscape, travel and people photography for the national press, guide books, brochures and calendars. He was the winner of the inaugural BGTW Best Travel Photography award. He is author of two books, The Art of People Photography and The Art of Landscape Photography, a member of the Association of Photographers, and sits on the editorial panel of Image magazine.