Travelers driving the coast of Donegal, Ireland, may be puzzled by the road signs proclaiming, “You Are in Amazing Grace Country.” Though Amazing Grace is strongly linked to the United States Civil Rights movement and achieved pop-culture prestige when Aretha Franklin recorded it on her best-selling gospel album of the same name the song was born off the shores of Buncrana, a 6000-person town along the Wild Atlantic Way.
The History of “Amazing Grace”
“Amazing Grace” was written by John Newton, an English slave trader-turned-minister. During his early years at sea, Newton mocked religion. But a near-death experience changed his views.