A memoir by Patrick J. Keys

Along the
Enchanted Way

Name: Along the Enchanted Way
Author: Patrick J. Keys

An Irishman’s Life of Adventure, Travel, Entrepreneurship and Good Fortune

Ships, signals, distant continents and a changing Ireland — one remarkable life remembered with warmth, honesty and optimism.

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Kindle eBook · Amazon ASIN B0H8Y83VQY

Contact: pat.keys@gmail.com

Cover of Along the Enchanted Way by Patrick J. Keys

“Mayday, Mayday — this is Flying Tiger 923… about to ditch… souls on board seventy-six.”

On a September night in 1962, those words crackled across the North Atlantic to a young radio officer at Shannon. This is his story.

The book

A journey through a world now slipping from memory

Beginning in 1930s rural Ireland, Patrick’s story carries him across the seas, into the radio rooms of ships and aircraft, and to some of the twentieth century’s lesser-known historical frontiers.

From luxury passenger ships around Southern Africa and cargo vessels bound for South America, to Shannon Aeradio, the early days of Irish television and global communications ventures, the memoir offers a vivid, behind-the-scenes view of a fast-changing world.

Woven throughout are stories of romance, danger, cultural encounters, resilience, lasting love and the gentle pull of home. It is both a personal odyssey and a portrait of a changing Ireland.

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Life at Sea

Passenger ships, cargo vessels, storms, remote ports and the camaraderie of maritime life.

Signals & Flight

Morse code, Shannon Aeradio and the vital communications guiding aircraft across the Atlantic.

A Changing Ireland

From post-war Dublin to the early years of RTÉ and a country opening to the wider world.

Global Enterprise

Business ventures across Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe during periods of extraordinary change.

About the author

Patrick J. Keys

Born in Athlone and raised in Dublin, Patrick trained as a Marconi Radio Officer and began a career that would take him around the world.

Communications became the defining thread of his life — from ships’ radio rooms to Shannon Aeradio and later Ireland’s national broadcaster, RTÉ. His business career then expanded globally, including ventures in China, Libya, Gabon, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Ukraine, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia.

Patrick never set out to become an author. For years, he entertained family and friends with stories around the table. Their encouragement persuaded him to preserve those memories in a book, placing his experiences against the backdrop of a changing Ireland.

The printed edition was launched at Elm Park, Dublin, on 4 September 2025, with family, friends and well-wishers gathered to celebrate the book. The eBook now makes the story available to a wider audience.

In the Press

Life on the air: the amazing Pat Keys

The Currency · Paul McArdle · 17 August 2026

A feature on Patrick’s journey from radio officer and RTÉ engineer to first-time entrepreneur in his fifties, international broadcaster and memoirist at 90.

This concise two-page PDF captures the main business and travel stories behind Along the Enchanted Way, including Off Air Electronics, pioneering MMDS work in Ireland, and assignments in China, Gabon, Libya, Azerbaijan and Pakistan.

Read the two-page article (PDF) Buy the eBook

Podcast