‘A powerful beacon of hope’ Seán Ronayne
As a mass Irish rewilding movement takes shape, Eoghan Daltun takes to the high roads and byroads to meet those leading a quiet revolution on the land.
Rewilding, already proven in Scotland, is gathering momentum in Ireland. It offers a radical reimagining of our relationship with the natural world, restoring balance to landscapes long dominated by extraction, industrialised farming and monoculture forestry. By creating space for nature to recover, on land and at sea, it promises renewed biodiversity, resilient ecosystems and a future less defined by depletion. Yet the challenge is stark: Ireland remains one of the most ecologically altered countries in Europe.
In Setting the Land Free, Daltun travels across Ireland and beyond to Scotland and Costa Rica, encountering pioneers restoring bogs, reintroducing native species and regenerating forests and coastlines. Their work is practical, urgent and deeply hopeful, rooted in the belief that repair is still possible.
This is not just a chronicle of change, but an inspiring call to imagine differently – and act.
As a mass Irish rewilding movement takes shape, Eoghan Daltun takes to the high roads and byroads to meet those leading a quiet revolution on the land.
Rewilding, already proven in Scotland, is gathering momentum in Ireland. It offers a radical reimagining of our relationship with the natural world, restoring balance to landscapes long dominated by extraction, industrialised farming and monoculture forestry. By creating space for nature to recover, on land and at sea, it promises renewed biodiversity, resilient ecosystems and a future less defined by depletion. Yet the challenge is stark: Ireland remains one of the most ecologically altered countries in Europe.
In Setting the Land Free, Daltun travels across Ireland and beyond to Scotland and Costa Rica, encountering pioneers restoring bogs, reintroducing native species and regenerating forests and coastlines. Their work is practical, urgent and deeply hopeful, rooted in the belief that repair is still possible.
This is not just a chronicle of change, but an inspiring call to imagine differently – and act.
Reviews
A powerful beacon of hope
Eoghan Daltun has given us not just the vision but the instruction manual on what needs to be done to reshape our landscape and unleash Ireland's natural wilderness
Eoghan Daltun has brilliantly documented both the sad decline and spectacular recovery of nature through the magic of rewilding. Setting the Land Free opens a whole new chapter in this crucial story. Daltun is a gifted storyteller whose message is both urgent and timely. He skilfully reels us in as readers to join him on a breathless ongoing journey of rediscovery and reawakening
Setting the Land Free offers a road map to recovery for Ireland's natural world. Like a chink of light between heavy curtains, Daltun lifts to reveal the full brightness and beauty of rewilding - of what could be - an Ireland rich and abundant in nature. His writing carries a clarity of vision and thought that excites the reader, offering inspiring examples of how rewilding could be applied in an Irish context. We are at a crossroads, and this book is a call to action. Setting the Land Free is a necessary reimagining - a game changer for Irish nature and our future on this island.