Inspiring people- Dervla Murphy

take everything

I was reading there about Kerry footballer Tomas Mac an tSaoir who has cycled across Afghanistan and in passing it was mentioned that this is not the first time that an Irish person has cycled across Afghanistan. What?

Then I learned about Dervla Murphy.

Here is her wiki page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dervla_Murphy?wprov=sfla1

She had this remarkable life travelling all over the world by bike. Back in the sixties!

First across Europe and then across the Middle East and eventually onto India to work with the poor there. Fair play to the Kerry footballer above, but her story is just incredible. This was pre-internet, pre-proper commercial air travel etc and she was a woman travelling alone.

How does someone even begin to so this. How did she manage. She wrote books about her travels which I must check out.

Anyone know anything more about her. I'm amazed she isn't better known.

Furze99

Trailblazer alright but like many people who pursue quirky things individually, they tend to get forgotten. She had a child too if I recall correctly whom she also brought on several of these journeys.

Hibernicis

Fascinating person. First heard about here when I was quite young when she was interviewed on the radio and reports of her journeys surfaced in the newspapers. Later learned more about her, a woman of wide and varied opinions, and very much ahead of her time, both in terms of the life she led and the views she held. Wrote a lot of books on her travels, I'd suggest you grab one and enjoy. Life at Full Tilt might be a good place to start.

NewbridgeIR

She travelled around NI in the 1970s (not far flung location but a fascinating read)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1780600119/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

zell12

Viva Mary

Emigrating to England at the end of the war, she dedicated her life to educating disabled children, at a time when it was shunned upon professionally. Never one to take the mundane road, she spent decades sailing the Mediterranean solo, as a pensioner.

https://www.rte.ie/gaeilge/2023/1011/1408701-portrait-of-a-remarkable-woman-viva-mary/

BrianD3

I never heard of her until this thread. The Wikipedia article, which probably barely scratches the surface of her story is very interesting.

I vaguely recall accounts of other quirky characters over the years who went on adventures, often involving long distance cycling. For example, although it doesn't really compare to what Dervla did, Dr Sean and Oliver Flannery from Tubbercurry, Sligo cycled around Europe in the 1950s on a tandem bicycle.

3d4life

I believe that the public library system still has a fair few of Dervla's titles :)

A starting point :

https://fingal.spydus.ie/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/WPAC/BIBENQ?ENTRY=dervla+murphy&ENTRY_NAME=BS&ENTRY_TYPE=K&SORTS=SQL_REL_BIB&GQ=dervla+murphy&ISGLB=1&NRECS=20&QRY=&QRYTEXT=Full+catalogue&_SPQ=2

Hibernicis

This article is a brief but good introduction to her unconventional life

https://www.afar.com/magazine/a-tribute-to-the-late-irish-adventure-writer-dervla-murphy?_amp=true

There were also obituaries in the Irish Times and The Guardian. After that, if you want to know more your best bet is to start on one of her books. They are very accessible.