As an undergraduate at Oxford University, John Betjeman first visited Ireland in 1925 and was entranced by the country. He was to pay frequent visits over the next five decades, staying in stately homes, and making enduring friendships, these decades included nearly three years as Press Attaché to the British mission to Dublin during the Second World War. Several of his best-known poems, written long before he became a knighted Poet Laureate, are set in Ireland.
Betjeman in Ireland describes his fascination with Ireland through a series of often inter-linked themes: his love of the Irish countryside, particularly the overlooked Midland Counties, the mansions and the ruined mansions, the eccentricities of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy, life among writers in Dublin, his poetry, and, of course, his many love affairs. The book brings to life this charming and complex man and his relationship with Ireland, with the same light-hearted touch which characterises his poetry.