LISTEN TO THE LAND SPEAK

Our ancestors developed a uniquely nature focused society centred on esteemed poets seers monks healers and wise women who were deeply connected to the land They used this connection to the cycles of the natural world from which we are increasingly dissociated as an animating force in their lives In this illuminating new book Manchán Magan sets out on a journey through bogs across rivers and over mountains to trace these ancestor s footsteps He uncovers the ancient myths that have shaped our national identity and are embedded in the strata of land that have endured through millennia from ice ages through to famines and floods Here the River Shannon is a goddess and trees and their life sustaining root systems are hallowed See the world in a new light in this magical exploration into the life sustaining wisdom of what lies beneath us We could do with a lot more characters like Manchán dotted about this world Irish Independent Manchán creates a gorgeous tapestry that lingers in the mind s eye Kerri Ní Dochartaigh Manchán s got some theories about the roots of the Irish language that are going to blow your head off an incredible storyteller Blindboy Boatclub Manchán s passion for Ireland s ecological and poetic heritage is more urge