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Ireland's Pirate Trail: A Quest to Uncover our Swashbuckling Past
Bloodthirsty buccaneers and buried treasure, fierce sea battles and cold-blooded murders, Barbary ducats and silver pieces of eight.
Des Ekin embarks on a roadtrip around the entire coast of Ireland, in search of our piratical heritage, uncovering an amazing history of swashbuckling bandits, both Irish-born and imported.
Ireland’s Pirate Trail tells stories of freebooters and pirates from every corner of our coast over a thousand years, including famous pirates like Anne Bonny and William Lamport, who set off to ply their trade in the Caribbean. Ekin also debunks many myths about our most well-known sea warrior, Granuaile, the ‘Pirate Queen’ of Mayo. Thoroughly researched and beautifully told. Filled with exciting untold stories.
Des Ekin embarks on a roadtrip around the entire coast of Ireland, in search of our piratical heritage, uncovering an amazing history of swashbuckling bandits, both Irish-born and imported.
Ireland’s Pirate Trail tells stories of freebooters and pirates from every corner of our coast over a thousand years, including famous pirates like Anne Bonny and William Lamport, who set off to ply their trade in the Caribbean. Ekin also debunks many myths about our most well-known sea warrior, Granuaile, the ‘Pirate Queen’ of Mayo. Thoroughly researched and beautifully told. Filled with exciting untold stories.
368 pages, Paperback
First published April 16, 2018
28 people are currently reading
242 people want to read
About the author
Des Ekin
11 books28 followersDes Ekin is an Assistant Editor with The Sunday World. As well as researching investigative news articles, he writes a popular column that reaches more than a million readers every weekend. He was born in County Down, Northern Ireland and spent a decade reporting on Troubles in Northern Ireland before moving to Dublin, where he now lives with his wife and three children.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
December 30, 2024
3.5
Mixed thoughts on this. On the one hand, it was such a great exploration on the topic of pirates and the role Ireland played in the great adventures. I enjoyed how Ekin laid the scenes and had such sharp, easy prose. While I enjoyed the manner with which he travelled around Ireland and described pirates in each coastal area of Ireland, I was quite disappointed in the emphasis he placed on the areas he knew - Ulster and Lenster - but Munster and Connacht are much less researched. For example, galway is barely mentioned, and towns like waterford and youghal are similarly missed. Of course, the author couldn't cover every place in Ireland, but at times, it felt very noticeable biased in favour of the places Ekin wanted to travel to.
I was also questioning Ekins' presentation of fact and fiction. The lack of citation works for his style (it is not a strictly academic book), but I found it quite disconcerting how difficult it was to judge what exactly was his interpretation and story telling, and what was actual fact.
All in all, though, this book is a great introduction into pirates and really shines a light on the history of Ireland.
Oh, and also... are vikings pirates?!?? I was so baffled by the last section that focused so much on vikings when they had previously barely been mentioned. To me, vikings are separate from pirates, and also from a completely different time period too. But anyway, that's a matter of opinion that I could well be erroneous in having.
Mixed thoughts on this. On the one hand, it was such a great exploration on the topic of pirates and the role Ireland played in the great adventures. I enjoyed how Ekin laid the scenes and had such sharp, easy prose. While I enjoyed the manner with which he travelled around Ireland and described pirates in each coastal area of Ireland, I was quite disappointed in the emphasis he placed on the areas he knew - Ulster and Lenster - but Munster and Connacht are much less researched. For example, galway is barely mentioned, and towns like waterford and youghal are similarly missed. Of course, the author couldn't cover every place in Ireland, but at times, it felt very noticeable biased in favour of the places Ekin wanted to travel to.
I was also questioning Ekins' presentation of fact and fiction. The lack of citation works for his style (it is not a strictly academic book), but I found it quite disconcerting how difficult it was to judge what exactly was his interpretation and story telling, and what was actual fact.
All in all, though, this book is a great introduction into pirates and really shines a light on the history of Ireland.
Oh, and also... are vikings pirates?!?? I was so baffled by the last section that focused so much on vikings when they had previously barely been mentioned. To me, vikings are separate from pirates, and also from a completely different time period too. But anyway, that's a matter of opinion that I could well be erroneous in having.
May 3, 2018
Yo ho ho and a bottle of whiskey! Most people, when they hear "Ireland" and "pirate" think Grainne (Grace) O'Malley, but as Ekin's book shows, there was plenty of other pirate activity around the shores of our fair island. From Viking raiders to Age of Sail buccaneers, from Barbary corsairs to American patriots, from charming rogues to sociopathic villains, from prostitutes to pirate queens -- hoist your anchor and get on board for a swashbuckling look through Irish pirate history.
June 1, 2019
I always wondered why they were called pieces of eight.
December 20, 2022
Ireland's Pirate Trail feels like a self-indulgent excuse for the author to go road-tripping around Ireland. He often describes his journey to some remote village in detail, only to go on to tell a story that's only vaguely related to piracy and barely relevant to the location he's just spent a day travelling to.
Don't get me wrong, there's lots of interesting facts in here - the book is stuffed with them. But the book is poorly referenced, and with trustworthy references on piracy being few and far-between it's often difficult to differentiate fact from fiction. Ekin is clearly aware of this, and occasionally attempts to detangle the mythos himself, but since it isn't always clear what sources he's using to do this the result is somewhat muddled. There IS an extensive bibliography and there's evidence that a lot of research was done, but the lack of referencing winds up feeling like a deliberate attempt for the author to pass off his own theories as fact - I'm not saying this happens, but there's genuinely no way to tell. He also goes completely off the deep end at one point by suggesting that what was clearly a rich boys' drinking club disguised as a legal institution was actually a Protestant-ruling class conspiracy which... yikes.
There's also no index, which is a cardinal sin in non-fiction as far as I'm concerned. I need to be able to pluck this off the shelf and find the half-remembered random fact and that's just not something you can do here.
The book is well presented, with nice (if functionally useless) maps and plenty of photos and art to give context to the stories being told. There's a generally clear and easy to follow narrative, and while Ekin's humour is hit-or-miss for me, his writing is generally enjoyable.
I'm not certain I would recommend this book, but I also wouldn't discourage anybody who wanted to read it from giving it a go.
Don't get me wrong, there's lots of interesting facts in here - the book is stuffed with them. But the book is poorly referenced, and with trustworthy references on piracy being few and far-between it's often difficult to differentiate fact from fiction. Ekin is clearly aware of this, and occasionally attempts to detangle the mythos himself, but since it isn't always clear what sources he's using to do this the result is somewhat muddled. There IS an extensive bibliography and there's evidence that a lot of research was done, but the lack of referencing winds up feeling like a deliberate attempt for the author to pass off his own theories as fact - I'm not saying this happens, but there's genuinely no way to tell. He also goes completely off the deep end at one point by suggesting that what was clearly a rich boys' drinking club disguised as a legal institution was actually a Protestant-ruling class conspiracy which... yikes.
There's also no index, which is a cardinal sin in non-fiction as far as I'm concerned. I need to be able to pluck this off the shelf and find the half-remembered random fact and that's just not something you can do here.
The book is well presented, with nice (if functionally useless) maps and plenty of photos and art to give context to the stories being told. There's a generally clear and easy to follow narrative, and while Ekin's humour is hit-or-miss for me, his writing is generally enjoyable.
I'm not certain I would recommend this book, but I also wouldn't discourage anybody who wanted to read it from giving it a go.
April 10, 2022
A fun tour of piracy around Ireland featuring both pirates born here and operating elsewhere (Anne Bonny for example) as well as pirates operating here particularly during a period when Ireland's laws on piracy were more lax than England and hence we had a few pirate towns in operation. As a nautical nut I knew some stories already but there were still plenty of new yarns to enjoy too.
Each section began with a little intro by author about his travels in the area he would be writing about. Personally I'm not sure they added much to the book, but others may enjoy them.
If you live in Ireland or are visiting this is a good intro to our often forgotten maritime past.
Each section began with a little intro by author about his travels in the area he would be writing about. Personally I'm not sure they added much to the book, but others may enjoy them.
If you live in Ireland or are visiting this is a good intro to our often forgotten maritime past.
April 8, 2022
It's a fun book to read but some of the accounts aren't properly sourced or use questionable sources. The author mentions the fact that some are questionable. It's not a book just about Irish pirates or pirates operating around the Irish coast it's a mix of both. Overall it's a nice read, Des Ekin's writing style wasn't for me but it doesn't take away from the information. A lot of the stories are fun to read and some lesser-known historical figures are brought to light
January 13, 2019
Pretty good overview of such a large topic. Very readable and left me wanting more detail (understandable that it can’t all be included here!). Drove me to do some research of my own to fill in gaps I wanted covered and to dig up more on such an interesting and sometimes complex subject. Recommend.
May 4, 2021
I've always been interested in pirates and this book scratched my itch. Full of great info and exciting stories with biting intrigue and head-scratching facts. Recommended for anyone who's interested in swashbuckling adventures in history.
August 1, 2023
Some of the reviews hated on the dad jokes but I loved them! Found this book to be very engaging bit of history, with visual language. It is a described as a travel book, and as I do live in Ireland, I will definitely be visiting some of the locations.
September 3, 2024
Rip, roaring pirate adventures in... Ireland? A truly enjoyable read. Well written and honest as to the potential accuracy of each tale. As my favorite comedian Billy Connolly says "I hope it's true... Please may it be true!". Highly recommended.
February 11, 2020
Great to read bite sized stories on Irish history that strives for entertainment and accuracy. Loved the tour around the country
October 27, 2021
Interesting book. Nice that it is arranged in short chapters for each location / pirate so you can come and go without losing your place.
February 16, 2022
Good introduction offering an overview of Irish pirates;many I had not heard of. I'd consider this a starting block for further research.
July 9, 2022
Goof book. Each chapter is a singular pirate story so if you don't like one story read the next
July 9, 2023
11/20.
November 11, 2023
Really enjoyed this book, the stories were told in a really nice, logical way. Perfect mix of exciting action and facts.
November 2, 2024
3,75
Wish they would have talked about fewer pirates and explored the most important ones with more detail
Wish they would have talked about fewer pirates and explored the most important ones with more detail
June 25, 2020
Fun stuff, and despite the jocular tone, attempting to be well-researched. Ekin's fond of puns (a few real groaners included), but tells a good yarn, and winds up making a strong case for how nearly every part of Ireland was influenced by the maritime trades and attendant crime.
I read this book as a part of my project to read one book from every aisle in Olin Library. You can read more about the project, find reactions to other books, and (eventually) a fuller reaction to this one here: https://jacobklehman.com/library-read
I read this book as a part of my project to read one book from every aisle in Olin Library. You can read more about the project, find reactions to other books, and (eventually) a fuller reaction to this one here: https://jacobklehman.com/library-read
January 20, 2019
Des strikes again with an at times entertaining book of Irish pirate stories. Unfortunately Des has a style of writing that makes me want to throw myself into the nearest river. His personal anecdotes and flights of fancy made me think about his book and its rightful place in my recycling bin. Yet just when I would be about to give up he would get back to a pirate story and then the entertainment would return. A good/bad and (at times) entertaining book that in this humble readers opinion could have been so much better.
(Incidentally I much preferred "The Last Armada" by the same author, more history and less tangential musings.
(Incidentally I much preferred "The Last Armada" by the same author, more history and less tangential musings.
May 14, 2024
I did not know what I was getting into, and so 1 star for my own stupidity to buy this book
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews