Writer | Podcasts | Environment
Cad a dhéainfimear fásta gan amhad? Tá deireadh na gcoillte ar lár; níl trácht ar Chill Chais ná ar a teaghlach is ní bainfear a clig go bráth. From an Irish poem describing the clearance of woodlands from the Butler estate in Kilkash, Tipperary in the 18th century. One of the most common ideas when …
Continue reading "Why Don’t We Just Plant More Trees? (Episode 3)"
Sinn Féin disappointed many supporters and allies in June of 2024 when they joined the DUP in supporting a British policy to temporarily ban puberty blockers for trans youth. This was a block originally brought in by the Tories, extended by Keir Starmer, when Northern Ireland was something of a loophole for the block in …
Continue reading "How Have Sinn Féin’s LGBT+ Policies Changed So Much in Just Five Years?"
A hiding mane of a green-barked yew supports the sky; beautiful spot! the large green of an oak fronting the storm. A tree of apples - great its bounty! Like a hostel, vast: A pretty bush, thick as a fist, of tiny hazelnuts, a green mass of branches. A choice pure spring and princely water …
Continue reading "A Brief History of the Irish Environment (Episode 2)"
Irish people often take a lot of pride in our landscape, but how green are we really? That was why I chose to use it to open my podcast From the Roots.
Nearly two years ago I wrote a blog post ‘Should I be Writing at a Time like This?’ that started with a quote from Bo Burhan’s Netflix special Inside (2021): ‘The more I look, the more I see nothing to joke about. Is comedy over? Should I leave you alone because really, who’s going to …
The basic idea was simple, every day I pick a native tree and share some basic identification facts, the Irish name, and maybe some cultural background like superstitions or folklore. It was the same principle as the original “Treetober” I’d done on Twitter back in 2019. Fundamentally, Treetober was a way to trick myself into …
The only thing more overdone than someone launching a podcast in 2023 is someone announcing that podcast with a self-deprecating joke about how the world didn’t really need another podcast – so I’ll spare you the latter at least. For a while know I’ve had concerns about how environmental news is reported, across the board, …
As a kid you fed the crows in the garden behind your parents’ house. You liked that they learned not to be afraid of you over time.
Originally publishing in Catflap magazine (November 2021) There were two reasons I became a champion tree climber as a child. Firstly, because I loved it, the shapes of the branches and glow of the leaves when the light came through, the whisper of the breeze like the promise of something magical about to happen. Secondly, …
For every person I’ve met proclaiming the necessity for real art, I’ve met at least two more people too terrified to share their passion. Asking a young writer, still trying to find their voice in a world of such infinite mass media and “content”, to compare themselves to James Baldwin… That seems unfair. Either shape a generation or shut up? Should we be joking at a time like this?
Orla ní Dhúill 