Author Claire Kilroy talks about her holidays.
What's your earliest holiday memory?Being bought a bucket and spade in Clifden, in Co Galway, and sinking into the white sand on one of those beautiful Connemara beaches. We grew up in Howth, in Co Dublin, and every sunny day we'd be packed off to Jameson's Beach. It's a hidden rocky beach on the Dublin Bay side. We'd have Taytos and sandwiches and go to the Summit Shop, and on our way home we'd get ice cream.
Your worst holiday?That would be the time I decamped to a caravan somewhere in Galway to celebrate finishing the Leaving Cert. It rained, and then it rained. I've never been so cold and hungry. Apart from the time I went on the Trip to Tipp. We ended up in a tent missing a pole. We lay in a wet tent, and we had liquid custard that burst. That was a famously difficult festival. I remember Christy Moore was great, and The Four of Us. And I hate Bryan Adams, but we had to listen to him, so we just stood there and listened because we were so cold.
Your best holiday?The first time I went to Rome. We knew a few locals, and they drove us to hot springs up in the surrounding hills one night. It was in March, and the grass was frozen, but the water was hot, and we lay in a pool and watched steam billowing up into the stars. Then we'd roll in the frozen grass and jump back in the hot springs. There was a lot of driving around the city at dawn, too, before the traffic started up. I remember the Colosseum glowing pink. It still astonishes me to see relics from an ancient civilisation in the middle of a city. I went back to Italy six times in a row after that. In fact, I went nowhere else other than Italy during my 20s, I loved the place so much.
If budget or work were not a restriction, what would be your dream holiday?Somewhere with clear blue seas and good food. Thailand should do it. Or the island on Lost.
If you had your pick, who would you bring on holiday with you?David Bowie.
What's your favourite place in Ireland?The coast of west Cork, from Clonakilty all the way to Sheep's Head. I always feel healthy and happy down there. The scenery is spectacular, the walking is great and there are some cracking restaurants.
Your recommended holiday reading?You need an intelligent page-turner that does the work for you. I highly recommend Headlong by Michael Frayn. Very funny, very gripping.
Where to next?I haven't holidayed in years or swum in the sea. I'm sun-starved after the summer we had. My third novel is delivered, so I'm hoping to catch some winter sun before rickets sets in.
Claire Kilroy's first novel, All Summer, won the 2004 Rooney Prize for Irish Literature. Her second novel, Tenderwire, was published in 2006