Round Ireland with a
Fridge
Tony Hawks
Have you ever made a bet in a pub, while under the influence of the sort of beverage commonly consumed in such a place? Have you ever tried to win such a bet? The book reviewed here grew out of just that sort of occurrence.
Tony Hawks, the author of Round Ireland with a fridge, sets out to prove that , yes, he can, indeed, hitch-hike around Ireland in a calendar month, accompanied by a small refrigerator - not at all the sort of thing most Englishmen do while visiting the Emerald Isle.
However, only in Ireland could such a notion lead to such a fruitful adventure. This hilarious chronicle of one man’s travels with his fridge, christened ‘Saiorse’ (Irish Gaelic for ‘freedom’ and pronounced ‘Seersha’), is a wondrous tale of the absurd come to life, and, in its way, a tribute to the warmth and generosity of the Irish people. Hawks and his unlikely traveling companion experience life on the road in a way that the rest of us certainly never will, and in the process become minor celebrities, as the fridge grows into a personality in its own right, developing an identity and bringing people together wherever it goes. From Dublin to Donegal, fromSligo through County Mayo, Galway City, County Clare, Kerry, Cork, Wicklow, and back again to Dublin, the interpid twosome find themselves in situations that range from the emotional to the inspirational, but mostly the downright ridiculous. Among other things, Tony and the fridge go surfing, enter a bachelor contest, get blessed by the Mother Superior of a convent, and spend the night in a doghouse in Wexford.
“And there he was at the airport, the man who had been entrusted with the responsibility of purchsing someone’s traveling companion for the next month, a role more commonly associated with Bankok than Dublin. Although we’d never met, we knew each other instantly. He must have been able to recognize the wild apprehension in my eyes and I could see the dismay in his. He greeted me cordially enough and we made our way to the car. That was where the fridge was, he told me, accurately assessing that its whereabouts were my main concern.
I was rather nervous about meeting it.”
And so began the odyssey of the Fridge Man and Saiorse. If you need a laugh, this book will provide it. Part travelogue and part personal quest, Round Ireland with a fridge is a whimsical tale that won’t soon be forgotten - be sure to read all about it!
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