🛣️ About Highways and Byways
A Travel Letter from Ireland
Welcome! I’m Mike Collins — writer, wanderer, and along with my wife, Carina, the voice behind A Letter from Ireland. With Highways and Byways, I invite you to join me on a slower kind of journey through Ireland.
This isn’t a guidebook. It’s a travel letter.
Each edition journeys through Ireland’s unforgettable landscapes, rich heritage sites, vibrant festivals, and the workshops and kitchens of craftspeople who carry forward age-old traditions. Along the way, you’ll find stories that connect past and present — woven with personal reflection, Irish history, and a deep sense of place.
You might find yourself:
Standing before the high cross at Monasterboice, carved with centuries of story
Watching a master weaver in their workshop
Tasting handmade cheese at a food fair in West Cork
Walking a quiet boreen as each turn brings a new feast for the senses
Or pausing to take in a view so stirring, you forget to reach for your camera
🎙️ A Quiet Tribute to an Old Irish Companion
The title Highways and Byways is a nod to the RTE Radio series of the same name, which aired in the 1970s and ’80s. That programme wandered through the towns, voices, and music of rural Ireland — gently reminding us that the most meaningful stories are often found far from the headlines.
This newsletter is not affiliated with that programme, but it walks in its spirit: curious, kind-hearted, and grounded in place.
🌿 Who This Letter Is For
If you’ve ever:
Felt something stir while walking through ancient ruins
Chosen the scenic route just to see what’s beyond the bend
Longed for travel that reconnects you to what matters
Or wondered what it means to belong to a place or a people…
…then Highways and Byways is for you.
✍️ What You’ll Find
New letters every 1–2 weeks
Reflections from lesser-known sites and well-loved landscapes
Encounters with locals, ancestors, and the landscape itself
A Celtic voice — rooted, reverent, and a little irreverent when needed (which is most of the time these days)
Thanks for travelling with me.
There’s plenty of room — and we’re in no hurry.
— Mike
