A Road Less Travelled : Tales of the Irish Missionaries

From the Amazon rainforest to the South Pacific islands, and from India to the African plains, thousands of Irish missionaries devote themselves to the practical service of humanity.

Working in dozens of countries around the globe, these missionaries have made an invaluable contribution to their adopted lands.

Serving as pioneering health workers, as teachers of the poor (and sometimes as mentors to future world leaders), and as courageous advocates for marginalised people, they have left enduring and valuable legacies in fields as diverse as medicine, education, politics, ecology, and sport.

In the course of their work they face enormous challenges.

They must adapt to harsh environments of jungle, desert or city slum; wrestle with obscure languages; and, offer respite to the victims of war, famine or tribal violence.

Some have paid a high price at the hands of bandits, hostile regimes or tropical disease.

These men and women have had unique adventures, misadventures and truly extraordinary experiences.

In this book you will read vivid personal accounts of the most memorable experiences in their adopted homes, spanning the period from the mid-twentieth century right up to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

The stories they tell are amusing, informative, in some cases harrowing - but always engrossing.

The short narratives and anecdotes comprising this anthology have been extracted from diaries, memoirs, letters home to Ireland, and from contributions specially commissioned for this book providing an insight into the lives of some of Ireland's most outstanding emigrants.