This book is a celebration of Ireland—inspired by the stirring visual images of a prodigiously gifted photographer: Richard Fitzgerald had been recording scenic splendor and spirit of his homeland for many years, and when these photographs were brought together they formed a magnificent collection. It struck a deep chord in one of Ireland's finest novelists, Edna O'Brien, as it will in all who open this beautiful book. Both photographer and writer share a love of the Ireland that was—a land of shenanigans and miracles, whitewashed thatch cottages built of stone, religious fervor, and isolation from the rest of the world. Both are also wary of the collision of this ancient land with the late twentieth century and its consequent loss of a sense of wonder, its metamorphosis. They honor here the character and culture of a people and the profligate physical beauty of a landscape that remains inviolable. In unforgettable portraits Richard Fitzgerald captures the faces of those who have stayed behind—the elderly couples whose sons and daughters have long since emigrated and the lonely bachelors. He records the crumbling of stone and the majesty of nature, the overgrown deteriorating homesteads that dot the landscape like ancient monuments, women wearing black shawls, and fishermen in currachs, all of which are becoming a thing of the past along with the donkey and cart and botárin.