2 October 2026
By Tom Collins
tom@TheCork.ie
Harrington, Joe- Once Upon A Road: The History and Times of an Irish Butter Road. The 1747 Turnpike from Listowel to Cork –€24.99 from Mercier website
‘Meticulously researched, well-illustrated with the earliest maps, and captivating images, the good times and bad times, poverty, persecution, and land ownership are among the many subjects that Joe Harrington has covered.’ – Kay Moloney Caball, mykerryancestors.com
In 1747, a Castleisland man named John Murphy undertook a remarkable project: to build a turnpike road connecting the butter-producing lands of North Kerry to the great Cork Butter Market. For the next two and a half centuries, that road carried the commerce and conflict of Irish life – the clatter of laden carts, the grievances of Whiteboys and Moonlighters, the silences of Famine.
‘Once Upon a Road’ is the story of that road and the people who lived and died along it. Drawing on Acts of Parliament, estate records, local folklore and decades of dedicated research, Joe Harrington traces the full sweep of Irish history through the prism of a single route: from the Penal Laws and the Desmond Rebellions to hedge schools, the slave trade, Land League agitation, and the War of Independence.
Along the way, the Butter Road becomes something more than a thoroughfare – it becomes a living record of the resilience, resistance, and ordinary humanity of those who travelled it. Part local history, part journey of personal discovery, Once Upon a Road invites readers to see a familiar landscape with new eyes – and to remember the ghosts of years years gone by.
Joe Harrington is the editor of the long-established Lyreacrompane and District Journal and chair of the Lyreacrompane Heritage Group. He also chairs the Dan Paddy Andy Festival, established in 1998. With his partner, Kay O’Leary, Joe organises the long-running Irish Rambling House Show – a not-for-profit project that takes traditional entertainment to Irish centres and venues in England. He was a Limerick City councillor for fifteen years and was Mayor of Limerick City in 1998.
The Author