Remote From Adventure

A Young American’s Cycling Tour of Ireland in 1973

Matthew Stout

"Matthew Stout has crafted a charming, accessible, often hilarious and deeply personal account of his travels through Ireland that is at once a personal memoir, a travel book and an ode to this island. Remote from Adventure is something of an ironic title as it becomes clear that Stout finds all the adventure he needs in Ireland’s history, landscapes and people. This is a beautiful travel memoir that will be treasured by anyone who has ever visited Ireland and it is quite possible that this book will remind those of us who live here just how fortunate we are." Eoin Colfer, Bestselling author 

"Well written, warm and gentle, but also perceptive – this is a fascinating piece of social history, a first-hand travel-by-bicycle memoir". Rachel Pierce, author and editor

"Matthew Stout came to Ireland in 1973 as a teenager disillusioned with America and eager to immerse himself in Irish culture.  He certainly did that, becoming a well-known cartographer, archaeologist, geographer and historian. He was among the first people In Ireland to have an Apple Mac laptop (you can take the man out  the bog California …), and can lay claim to be the first person in Ireland to both  draw computer maps and to produce a book typeset by computer (Archaeological Survey of Ikerrin (1984). In his years at Trinity College, he had his card emblazoned with ‘Cartographer to the Stars’ ‘ and took pride in his dealings with luminaries like Frank Mitchell, John Andrews and Louis Cullen. He drew maps for all and sundry and nobody in Ireland has more acknowledgements in published books than him. With his wife Geraldine, a power couple if ever there was one, Matthew became the great interpreter and guide to Brú Na Bóinne. If they were in England. they would certainly have been created Lord and Lady Newgrange by now. Mathew also became a well-loved lecturer and colleague at St Pats and later DCU on the history of the Irish Landscape, Early Medieval Ireland, Medieval Archaeology, and International Historiography. His books The Irish Ringfort (1997) and Early Medieval Ireland (2018) have stayed in print since their initial publication. The same accolade applies to his co-editorship of The Irish Rural Landscape (1997). Of all the many people who settled in Ireland, he dug in the deepest. The residual  American in him is his abiding addiction to the Angels baseball team  and to Bob Dylan. A talented musician on the double bass, he played in an eclectic range of Drogheda-based bands. Behind the genial exterior and the constant willingness to help those who asked him, he is the most focused person you can imagine when it comes to work. His productivity is astonishing, often done in the dead of night while listening to Baseball games by the ‘mighty Nanny’ river, as he likes to call it. Matthew Stout  likes his music, his dog Shelby and his pint of Guinness (Nominative Determinism)." Kevin Whelan