A life less ordinary : Soldier. Mountaineer. Archaeologist

McDonald, Kevin2024

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Kevin McDonald has occupied a front-row seat to the reality of conflict in the world in a military career of more than 40 years. A Life Less Ordinary – his illuminating memoir – brings readers along his incredible and perilous journey from the 1980s to the present day. His early days in the FCA in Mayo were followed by enlisting with the Irish Defence Forces and his recruitment to its specialist Army Ranger Wing. At home he was dealing with the reality of the threat of the IRA but overseas UN missions brought him to the centre of many global conflicts. Over a 40-year period, McDonald served on missions in Lebanon, Israel, Chad, Western Sahara and Syria, and with the EU in Mali, followed by subsequent UN roles in the Central African Republic and his current role in the fledging nation of South Sudan. His is a vivid eyewitness account of the reality and brutality of war – witnessing the horrors visited on innocent civilians and the ever-present danger facing peacekeepers as he watched the killing of friends and colleagues right beside him. It is also a fascinating insight into the geopolitics of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Kevin McDonald somehow found time for two other all-consuming passions in his life – mountaineering and archaeology. He has scaled some of the world’s most challenging mountain ranges – the Himalayas, the Alps and details his exhilarating experiences of abseiling, rock climbing and alpine climbing in Ireland and overseas. He completed a degree in Archaeology in Galway University and has put his passion and expertise to good use at home and abroad. He has made several new discoveries including two 5,000 year old Megalithic tombs in County Clare. Kevin McDonald has a life well-lived, a life less ordinary.