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, became a bestseller. The book, still sought after by lovers of the river, captures an Ireland of small shops and barefoot street urchins that has long since disappeared. Eighty years on, inspired by his work, Paul Clements 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. He sails to remote islands, spends times in rural backwaters and secluded riverside villages where the pub is the hub, and attempts a quest for the Shannon connection behind the title of Flann O'Brien's novel At Swim-Two-Birds. 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. It focuses on the hardship faced by farmers and householders caused by the flooding of the river, which in recent winters left fields and towns under siege by water. Wildlife, nature, and the built heritage, including historic bridges, all play a part. The Shannon Callows, which used to be 'corncrake central', is explored for birdlife, along with the wildflower secrets of roadside hedges and riverbanks. On a quixotic journey by foot, boat, bike and car, 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. Through intermittent roaming, he maps the geography of the river in stories, testimonies and recollections, intercutting the past and the present in an eternal rhythm. Beyond the motorways and cities, you can still catch the pulse of an older, quieter Ireland of hay meadows and bogs, uninhabited islands and remote towpaths. This is the country of the River Shannon that runs through literature, art, cultural history and mythology with a riptide pull on our imagination. This is a tribute to Ireland's longest river reflecting the deep vein flowing through the culture of the country

About the Author
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.

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 *



Book Information
ISBN 9781843517832
Author Paul Clements
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint The Lilliput Press Ltd
Publisher The Lilliput Press Ltd