Overview

Paul Clements travels the length of the Shannon in this book.  It will be of interest to nature lovers and to tourists, containing a wealth of local knowledge of the area around Shannon, especially useful for ‘staycations’. In August 1939 the Irish travel writer Richard Hayward set out on a road trip to explore the Shannon region just two weeks before the Second World War broke out. His evocative account of that trip, Where the River Shannon Flows, still sought after now by lovers of the river, became a bestseller. Eighty years on, inspired by his work, Paul Clements – author of Romancing Ireland, the biography of Richard Hayward – retraces Hayward’s journey along the river, following – if not strictly in his footsteps – then within the spirit of his trip. From the Shannon Pot in Cavan, 344 kilometres south to the Shannon estuary, his meandering odyssey takes him by car, on foot, and by bike and boat, discovering how the riverscape has changed but is still powerful in symbolism. While he recreates Hayward’s trip, Clements also paints a compelling portrait of twenty-first century Ireland, mingling travel and anecdote with an eye for the natural world. The book gives a voice to stories from water gypsies, anglers, sailors, lock keepers, bog artists, ‘insta’ pilgrims and a water diviner celebrating wisdom through her river songs and illuminates cultural history and identity. Wildlife, nature, and the built heritage, including historic bridges, all play a part. On a quixotic journey Paul Clements produces an intimate portrait of the hidden countryside, its people, topography and wildlife, creating a collective memory map, looking at what has been lost and what has changed. This is the country of the River Shannon that runs through literature, art, cultural history and mythology with a riptide pull on our imagination – a tribute to Ireland’s longest river reflecting the deep vein flowing through the culture of the country.

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9781843517832

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Reviews

Travel writer Paul Clements retraces the River Shannon journey of fellow traveller Richard Hayward in this new work, which is in part a snapshot of where we are are now in terms of heritage, as well as being an astute account of the self-same heritage. -- Paddy Kehoe * RTE * Paul Clements 'Shannon Country' will be a guaranteed treat to those who read it and will possibly inspire us all to take a holiday on the Shannon so that we too can observe all those wonderful sites. -- Jonathan Smyth * The Anglo-Celt * Full of colourful characters and full of the breadth and majesty of the Shannon, this is a book written in the tradition of the great travel writers like Colin Thubron and Bruce Chatwin, possibly all the more alluring because it's set right here, on the oul' sod. -- Anne Cunningham * Anne Cunningham Blog * Paul Clements new book 'Shannon Country' takes a fresh look at the majestic river, he follows the footsteps that author Richard Hayward first took in 1939 and writes about the impact of the Shannon honestly and evocatively. -- Fiona Heavey * Leitrim Observer *

Author Information

Paul Clements is a travel writer and broadcaster. He is the author of three books on Ireland: Irish Shores: A Journey Round the Rim of Ireland (1993), The Height of Nonsense: The Ultimate Irish Road Trip (2005), and Burren Country: Travels Through an Irish Limestone Landscape (2011). He has written and edited two books on travel writer and historian Jan Morris, and is a contributing writer to Fodor's Guide Ireland and Insight Guide Ireland. A former BBC journalist, he is a Fellow of Green Templeton College, Oxford and lives in Belfast.

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