News and Events
OCTOBER 10, 2019. Book Launch: Tortuga. The Irish Tortoise
Book Launch: Tortuga. The Irish Tortoise. Tales from the Camino de Santiago
October 10, 2019. 6pm
An Seomra Caidrimh
The Irish Centre for Galician Studies and the Department of Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies cordially invite you to the launch of Tortuga. The Irish Tortoise. Tales from the Camino de Santiago, which will take place on October 10, 2019 at 6pm in Seomra Caidrimh.
This book is a personal account of walking one of the world’s most famed pilgrimage routes, the Camino Francés, from San Jean Pied de Port in the French Pyrenees to Santiago de Compostela in north-western Spain. Walking through the farmland and vineyards of Navarra and La Rioja, the hot and isolated Alta Meseta, and crossing the mountains into Galicia, the author describes the daily routine of walkers, common camino culture, the closeness to nature and the simplicity of camino life. This is also the story of the internal journey that slowly unfolds for all who walk this route, whether as tourists or pilgrims: the inner doubts, the challenge of walking every day for five weeks, the highs and lows, from feelings of pure elation to moments of personal reflection. The author recounts some of the incidents along the way, people met, friendships forged and the exhilaration of arriving in Santiago.
The author, Paul Collins, lives with his wife, Geraldine, in Beaufort, Co Kerry, ten kilometres from Killarney. They have four children, León, Caitriona, David and Garret. Paul worked as a teacher in British Columbia, Canada, Plateau State, Nigeria, Castilla-León, Spain and Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia before spending five years with Concern Worldwide, a development agency. He taught Spanish for eighteen years in Killorglin, Co Kerry before joining the Irish State Examinations Commission where he has worked for the past fourteen years. Contact: Paul Collins, Beaufort, Co Kerry Email: pauldkcollins@gmail.com