The signpost that stood at the top of Main Street was the perfect symbol to justify the significance of Kenmare. The ten arrows pointing East and West placing this bustling market town at the very epicentre of wild County Kerry. The many roads that did indeed lead to Kenmare, proof of its geographical importance, but barley hinting at the rich and chequered history of this 'most English' of Irish towns.
For Stan Goddard, a dedicated photographer, with a rambler's soul and a passion for history, Kenmare was literally like a breath of fresh air. Its valleys and mountains and glens of Kerry forging an association that was to bring him back every summer for almost fifty years.
And it was to be a fruitful association, for though to many it was little more than a small, rural community hidden by the shadow of Killarney, Kenmare was a place that had been touched by history more than once. The town had visible links to the Bronze Age, Cardinals from Rome, Cromwell's surveyor General and nuns of the "Poor Clare's." It also endured social and political upheaval, famine and even emigration. Factors that were not just the story of Kenmare, but the very tale of Ireland itself.
Now, reproduced in its original form, All Roads Lead to Kenmare offers the visitor to Kenmare a detailed, boots-on explanation of how nature, geography and man has impacted this beautiful town and why it is now considered by many to be a veritable jewel in the Ring of Kerry.
Concise and accessible, All Roads is much more than another potted history and more like a personal walking tour of Kenmare, but a walking tour with all those little questions answered, all those little facts explained and barely a touristtrap in sight