Billy Patterson

To narrate it, we needed someone whose voice would conjure up the spirit and sound of Ireland. Our search quickly led to one of the few remaining crew members from the 1963 voyage, Billy Patterson of Letterkenny, Donegal. Billy not only had the curragh experience but was known throughout Ireland as a celebrity and broadcaster. Now in his mid-eighties, would he take it on? In short, yes, a rare find, but as I was to learn, with Billy, there’s more to it than that. More

Jonathan Barry

Jonathan Barry, the author John Barry’s son, was 16 at the time of the voyage. Now, 63 years later he agreed to record his Preface, written for the new facsimile edition. With no access to a studio, he recorded it on an iPhone in the quiet of his own Donegal cottage, sitting by the window looking out over Sheephaven Bay, through which, in 1958, he and his father had first seen Wallace Clark’s little yacht storming in looking for shelter. Little did they imagine then that five years later Clark would skipper the curragh to Iona.

Bruce Clark

The original book included an Introduction about St Columba, written by Canon Stephen Cave, a curragh crew member, and an appendix about the curragh, written by the curragh skipper, Wallace Clark. Both had passed away.

Billy and Jonathan suggested I ask Bruce Clark, the curragh skipper Wallace Clark’s son, who now lives near London. Bruce agreed to not only narrate Stephen Cave’s piece about Columba, but to expand it with the latest thinking about Columba, which he was curiously qualified to do. Another rare find. Let me explain, more….

Nicholas Grainger

Wallace Clark, the 1963 skipper, wrote a piece about the curragh, which was included as an Appendix to Joyful Pilgrimage. I assumed we’d include it in the audiobook, but not everyone agreed; some thought it too full of technical boating terms. But I regarded it as a valuable treatise about the building and performance at sea of a traditional Irish curragh, written by a highly experienced sailor. Too valuable to be omitted, and lost. Uninterested listeners could skip it.

My co-publisher Gene Carl Feldman suggested I read it myself, drawing on my sailing experience, such as that published in The Voyage of The Aegre and also create a glossary of the nautical terms Wallace used. I’ve done both.

A supplement to the audiobook

To support the audiobook, we created a Supplementary file available with the audiobook from some vendors. This PDF file contains a map of the curragh course, photos from the book, a drawing of the curragh, a list of equipment carried on the curragh, and a glossary of boating terms used in Joyful Pilgrimage. With special thanks to Gene Garl Feldman for the enhanced illustrations.

You can download this supplementary file here:Joyful Pilgrimage audiobook PDF supplement

Visit a further page for more information about the 1963 curragh voyage and curraghs in general