A Frenchman’s Walk through Ireland 1796-97 (Illustrated)

Promenade d’un Français dans l’lrlande)

De: Jacques-Louis Bougrenet de La Tocnaye

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

Come take a walk with a noble Frenchman as he traverses Ireland by foot just before the 1798 rebellion. Jacques-Louis Bougrenet de La Tocnaye is an amiable companion full of wit, humour, and intriguing ideas. His description of Cork is:I arrived at Cork, the dullest and dirtiest town which can be imagined. The people met with are yawning, and one is stopped every minute by funerals, or hideous troops of beggars, or pigs which run the streets in hundreds, and yet this town is one of the richest and most commercial of Europe. The principal merchants are nearly all foreigners, Scotch for the most part, and in the short period of ten years are able sometimes to make large fortunes. Jacques -Louis was born to a noble Breton family. One of his descendants was Alain de La Tocnaye who was the co-leader in the attempt to assassinate Charles de Gaulle in 1962, and who the character ‘The Jackal’ in Frederick Forsyth’s Day of the Jackal is based on. Jacques fled France during the revolution. He moved to London where he mixed with other emigres such as François-René de Chateaubriand, he soon became bored and started hiking north until he reached Scotland, and wrote a book about his travels in that country. It was well received and he decided to write another one about Ireland. Jacques-Louis tramps the entire circumference of Ireland visiting all the key sites along the way. He has letters of introduction to many famous, and infamous, personage’s like Richard Martin ‘Humanity Dick’ with whom he spends a few days at Ballynahinch. Jacques doesn’t just rub shoulders with the well-heeled, he’s not above sleeping on the floor of a peasant’s cottage amongst the pigs, and the dogs.Jacques travelogue is one of the most interesting ever written about Ireland, and his unique perspective and interactions with both the peasants and the Lords of the era offers a truly illuminating record of the era. This edition is the most comprehensive ever published, it contains: •Illustrations•Expanded footnotes •Index