Ranji: Maharajah of Connemara, Anne Chambers

The scene at Ballynahinch station, when the Prince was about to take his departure, conjured visions of scenes from the Arabian Nights'. His Highness' native Indian servants and some 30 hefty Connemara men employed by the Prince, lined up at the station. When his Highness entered the station he was lustily cheered."
- Galway Observer, 1926

"...His Highness the Maharajah entered attired in the garb of a sportsman, the springing step and elasticity of movement proclaiming his distinguished career in the athletic world..."
- Connacht Tribune, 1924

Indian Prince Ranjitsinhji was the most celebrated cricket-player of his generation. In 1924, the inhabitants of Connemara, on the west coast of Ireland, were amazed when this exotic stranger fell in love with Ballynahinch Castle and decided to move in.

For the first time, biographer Anne Chambers reveals the reasons behind Ranji's strange decision to move to one of the remotest parts of Ireland during a time of violent political unrest.

Using rare documents from Government and personal archives, private photographs and personal stories from people who knew or worked for The Ranji', as they called him, she brings this intriguing story to light.