Wheels within Wheels

The Makings of a Traveller

By: Dervla Murphy

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Paperback | 17 February 2026

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Paperback
266 Pages

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21.5 x 13.9 x 1.7

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A first-hand account of the life of travel writer Dervla Murphy in which she tells of her early life in Lismore, Co. Waterford, in her rather unusual household. Her father was the county librarian and her mother a chronic invalid. An only child, Dervla was allowed from the age of seven to freely roam on her own. At ten, she cycled ten miles to a local mountain, climbed it, then lost herself on the way down, and was forced to stay out all night - much to the distress of her parents. Living in a house that was crumbling around their ears, she reveals how her family hid a Republican who was later hanged, how she tested herself (with hot water) to increase her pain threshold, how she avoided an insane and shrieking maid, who was convinced that Dervla's parents were fried eggs, and how she helped another maid give birth under the kitchen table. An early love of books and writing, led her to enter a writing competition arranged by a local newspaper, and she won first prize for five weeks in a row.

Industry Reviews

'Her reflective account of her own spirit during these thirty years is as fascinating as any of her many adventures in Tibet and Baltistan.' Mary Sullivan, Sunday Telegraph

'... an extraordinary book, reflecting an extraordinary woman and one of the great travellers of our time.' William Trevor, The Times

'This is a book to give strength to the weakest of us and courage to the most timid.' Benedict Kiely, Hibernia

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