Listen to the Land Speak: A Journey into the wisdom of what lies beneath us

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Listen to the Land Speak by Manchán Magan | Waterstones

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. Writer and broadcaster Manchán Magan, joined Kieran to discuss his new book, ‘Listen to the Land Speak’, a book that sets out to trace our ancestors, uncovering myths that have defined the Irish identity...Magan follows up his brilliant, poetic and evocative paean to the Irish language Thirty-two words for field with this exploration of the Irish landscape. Manchán Magan is a writer and documentary-maker. He has written books in Irish and English on his travels in Africa, India and South America. His most recent books are Thirty-Two Words for Field, which explores the insights the Irish language offers into the landscape, psyche and heritage of Ireland; and Tree Dogs, Banshee Fingers and Other Irish Words for Nature, an illustrated book that delves into Irish words for nature. He writes occasionally for the Irish Times and presents The Almanac of Ireland podcast about the heritage and culture of Ireland for RTÉ Radio 1. He has presented scores of television documentaries on history and culture. In this illuminating new book, roaming through bogs, rivers, mountains and shorelines, Manchán Magan sets out on a journey in their footsteps to uncover the ancient myths and stories that have shaped our national identity, as revealed by the gnarled, layered strata of land that have endured through millennia – from ice ages through to famines and floods. A very beautiful book telling stories of the history of Ireland’s mythology and pre-Christian religious/spiritual tradition. Immediately connecting the reader with this history and the land from which the stories came.

Listen to the Land Speak review: Fractal account of myth

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 Ireland's national identity and are embedded in the strata of land that have endured through millennia – from ice ages through to famines and floods. Great book which will particularly those interested in our Irish heritage, mythology and language, but also one accessible for those with less or no knowledge on these topics.Hear, O earth! I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their own schemes, because they have paid no attention to My word and have rejected My instruction. In 2019, once I finished university I seemingly started learning Irish for no reason, or at least the reason for learning it has been lost on me, and from that I started learning more about the history both actively out of my own curiosity having left unionism behind me years ago, and passively as my social circle expanded southbound online and my friends and mutual acquaintances shared tidbits of their cultural identity, and through the anger they have toward the current political climate in Ireland where the government plans to erase, evict and gentrify anything that doesn’t make money. Magan is a magician with words and has a way of presenting even the most seemingly mundane information in a captivating way. I found his chapters on Ireland’s bogs, trees and roads particularly fascinating and frequently had to pause reading to do a deep dive online into some of the landmarks and stories he mentions, which is exactly the kind of curiosity that Magan set out to evoke in his readers.