MAGAN'S WORLD: I WISH THERE were road signs pointing towards things like the lost village buried in the sand at Ballyvaston, Co Down, or the ancient "unapproved" carols in Kilmore, Co Wexford, which have been kept alive by a sextet of men for 300 years - dark and brooding songs, featuring witches, leprosy and baths of infant's blood, that have always been frowned upon by the church and never once recorded.
These are the sorts of things I'd like to find at the end of a brown-and-white heritage signpost rather than yet another mound of old stones.
I learned about them from a book called A Secret Map of Ireland, which also mentions a hidden mausoleum in the heart of Monivea Woods, in Co Galway, that looks like a miniature castle, with fairytale triple-lancet windows and a Gothic-arched door that can only be opened by a single key - a huge, heavy, iron one kept by an anonymous keyholder.
What intrigued me most of all in the book was news of a secret trove of folklore knowledge contained in our county libraries. It was amassed by schoolchildren in 1938 and details the fairy situation in every parish, including the types of leprechauns common in each area, the names of people who tried to steal their gold and what happened to them. There is also information on whether local mermaids had the faculty of speech and, if so, what families were known to have had relationships with them.
I'm keen to recommend the book but concerned it may seem nepotistic, considering it was written, a couple of years ago, by an Irish Timesjournalist. This is despite the fact that I've never set foot in the Irish Timesoffices. I know my way better around the Washington Post, where I've sat in on editorial meetings. For what it's worth, A Secret Map of Irelandis by Rosita Boland and published by New Island.
My next quandary concerns Westport, where I spent two wonderful nights at the Castlecourt Hotel recently. There are things I'd like to recommend in Westport, but again I'm concerned that, as my accommodation was complimentary, it might colour the integrity of my opinions. How compromised am I by the fluffy pillows and flaky croissants at breakfast? Did it influence my enjoyment of browsing in Westport Antiques, Art & Collectibles Centre, at the Olde Railway Hotel, or perhaps heighten the pleasure I got from a bar of home-made 65-per-cent-cocoa chocolate at Marlene's Chocolate Haven?
One recommendation I can stand over is for John C Gibbons's Interesting Books, a wonderfully quirky bookshop on James Street, named after the owner's great-grandfather, who left Ireland in 1867 and served with George Custer during the Indian Wars in Texas.
It was here that I stumbled upon the sumptuous bibliographic sweetmeats of Redfoxpress (redfoxpress.com), a publishing house based on Achill Island. Redfoxpress is the lovechild of Dutchman Francis Van Maele and Antic-Ham from Korea. Together they produce a range of seductively tactile artist's books under the name Franticham, and this Westport bookshop is their only mainland stockist.
The "small object" books they make from collage and silk-screen printing bound between two wooden panels are spectacular. Each is a work of art. My favourite of all is Fish-Box, a selection of silk-screen prints by international artists on the theme of fish, presented in a fish'n'chip box with a hidden surprise at the bottom. It's both delicious and mischievous.
Next time you're in Westport make sure you check them out, or, even better, call into Redfox studio, overlooking Dugort Bay, on Achill Island.