Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

news

Travel writer and adventure cycling pioneer Dervla Murphy dies aged 90

Tributes paid to Irish author whose 1965 work Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle is widely regarded as one of the best travel books ever written

Travel writer and adventure cycling pioneer Dervla Murphy, who helped inspire a host of cyclists to undertake their own travels around the world, has died at the age of 90.

The author of 26 books, her first, published in 1965 under the title Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle, remains her best-known and charts her solo journey through Europe and countries including Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan before arriving at her final destination, Delhi.

Based on the travel journal she kept during her trip, which began during Europe’s unusually severe winter of 1963, the book is widely regarded as one of the greatest ever pieces of travel writing.

Within its pages Murphy, who undertook her journey on a men’s Armstrong Cadet bicycle, recounts how she had to fend off wolves in Yugoslavia, saw off a gang of thieves in Iran with the help of the pistol she carried with her, and escaped from a man attempting to rape her at a police station in Afghanistan.

During her six-month journey, she relied on strangers for food and accommodation, and after arrival in Delhi continued her travels, volunteering for Save The Children to help refugees from Tibet who had arrived in India, chronicled in her second book, Tibetan Foothold.

On the BBC’s Talking Books programme in 2015, Murphy said: “When I looked at an atlas I realised you could actually get to India from Ireland on a bicycle with just two little tiny stretches of water in the way.”

Her writings often addressed major political and social issues, including the Troubles in Northern Ireland, which she wrote about in her 1978 work A Place Apart, the impact of AIDS on sub-Saharan Africa where travelled by bike in 1992, her account of her journey published under the title The Ukimwi Road.

Later trips included several undertaken with her daughter Rachel, and subsequently with her three granddaughters Rose, Clodagh and Zea as well.

Tributes to Murphy, who hailed from County Waterford, were led by Ireland’s President Michael D Higgins, who said: “While known as Ireland’s most famous travel writer, such a description barely captures the fullness and deep understanding captured in her work.

“Her contribution to writing, and to travel writing in particular, had a unique commitment to the value of human experience in all its diversity.

“She retained a strong interest in those who were suffering throughout the world even up to recent weeks and brought an insightful perspective to matters of politics, environmentalism and the crucial importance of peace.”

Murphy’s publisher, Eland Books, also posted a tribute to her on Twitter, as did Lee Craigie, director of the women’s cycling collective The Adventure Syndicate and Active Nation Commissioner for Scotland.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

Add new comment

14 comments

Avatar
sean1 | 2 years ago
1 like

Dervla Murphy appeared on Desert Island Discs in 1993.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0093x7x

Avatar
Rendel Harris replied to sean1 | 2 years ago
0 likes
sean1 wrote:

Dervla Murphy appeared on Desert Island Discs in 1993.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0093x7x

Terrific, thanks – earmarked for my next Zwift session!

Avatar
mike the bike | 2 years ago
0 likes

And she could tell a good story too.  She was occasionally interviewed on UK radio and would have the studio in fits of laughter.  Can these recordings still be found?  I might try.

Avatar
JMcL_Ireland replied to mike the bike | 2 years ago
1 like

There's a very good documentary from 2016 with her at home reminiscing on her travels. It was shown here on RTE (Irish state broadcaster) a few years ago, but is available at least on Vimeo https://vimeo.com/ondemand/dervlamurphy

It's been a sad week for Irish culture with the tragically early passing of Cathal Coughlan late last week as well

Avatar
Steve K | 2 years ago
0 likes

Someone lent me a copy years ago, and for some reason I didn't get round to reading it. I've regretted that ever since, as I've tried to get hold of it but it doesn't appear to be in print

Avatar
Rendel Harris replied to Steve K | 2 years ago
0 likes
Steve K wrote:

Someone lent me a copy years ago, and for some reason I didn't get round to reading it. I've regretted that ever since, as I've tried to get hold of it but it doesn't appear to be in print

The 2010 edition is available both new and used hard copies on Amazon and as a Kindle book, I've just bought a used copy from Abebooks - dozens of used copies on eBay as well.

Avatar
Steve K replied to Rendel Harris | 2 years ago
1 like

Thanks!

Avatar
eburtthebike | 2 years ago
3 likes

Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle; my first edition is one of my most prized possessions.  If you haven't read it, make sure you do; inspirational and a damn good read.

Avatar
Rendel Harris replied to eburtthebike | 2 years ago
1 like
eburtthebike wrote:

Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle; my first edition is one of my most prized possessions.  If you haven't read it, make sure you do; inspirational and a damn good read.

That's good enough for me, to my shame I'd never heard of her, have just ordered a copy.

Avatar
geomannie 531 replied to Rendel Harris | 2 years ago
1 like
Rendel Harris wrote:
eburtthebike wrote:

Full Tilt: Ireland to India with a Bicycle; my first edition is one of my most prized possessions.  If you haven't read it, make sure you do; inspirational and a damn good read.

That's good enough for me, to my shame I'd never heard of her, have just ordered a copy.

It's a long while since I read it, but my outstanding memories are that she took the gears off her bike to make it more reliable & she packed a pistol. Not exactly standard touring equipment.

Avatar
Rendel Harris replied to geomannie 531 | 2 years ago
2 likes

I ordered a copy from AbeBooks then realised that I know someone who would love it as a present so I've earmarked that copy for her and ordered it on Kindle for myself (instant gratification!), read about half of it this evening, it is an absolute gem! Delighted to have discovered it, a real treat.

Avatar
eburtthebike replied to geomannie 531 | 2 years ago
0 likes
geomannie 531][quote=Rendel Harris wrote:

It's a long while since I read it, but my outstanding memories are that she took the gears off her bike to make it more reliable & she packed a pistol. Not exactly standard touring equipment.

Well, none of that was in the book I read, so maybe you're thinking of something else?

Avatar
Rendel Harris replied to eburtthebike | 2 years ago
0 likes
eburtthebike]</p>

<p>[quote=geomannie 531

wrote:
Rendel Harris wrote:

It's a long while since I read it, but my outstanding memories are that she took the gears off her bike to make it more reliable & she packed a pistol. Not exactly standard touring equipment.

Well, none of that was in the book I read, so maybe you're thinking of something else?

It's in the copy I'm reading, she removes the three-speed gear from her bike in the intro, saying she didn't think it would stand up to the rigours of Asian roads, and she buys a .25 pistol which she's already used to kill wolves that attacked her Yugoslavia and to scare off sexual attackers in Persia.

Avatar
eburtthebike replied to Rendel Harris | 2 years ago
1 like

OK, I need to read it again!

Latest Comments