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 with an American B-17 Flying Fortress en route from Marrakesh to England, to the French mausoleum in Monivea; from Europe's most westerly weather station - famed for recording the highest ever wind speed in the British Isles - to the Tayto factory of dreams in Armagh, this delightful book promises a most unusual, and engaging, exploration of a mad and marvelous land. "An essential book - full of rare and fascinating detail." -Colm Tóibín Rosita Boland is a journalist with the Irish Times. She lives in Dublin.