Walking to Lough Conn with Seán Lysaght

In September 2022 I had the privilege of walking through the woods of Enniscoe House in Co. Mayo, Ireland, to the shore of Lough Conn with Seán Lysaght. Seán is a poet and author who has taught me a great deal (through his books and poems) about the nature, landscape and heritage of County Mayo.

We cover a lot of ground and experience all the weathers, with Seán reading one of his poems at the close of the episode. It ends in dramatic fashion, with the rain sweeping in off Lough Conn and making further recording impossible.

You can see more of Seán's work here and see the outline of the episode below. I hope you enjoy!

Recorded on 7th September 2022 at Enniscoe House and Lough Conn

• Woodpeckers arriving in Ireland
• Identify wych elm’s bristly leaves
• Elm trees in Mayo
• 2022 a good year for beech mast
• How vital ivy can be in woodlands
• Ivy is not a parasite
• Beech trees in Ireland, a planted tree of demesnes
• ‘The Big House’ landscape and differences with England
• Definitions of rainforest
• Tutsan and hypericums
• Personal memories of chiffchaff in Kerry, other warblers
• Moving from eradication to control with rhododendron
• Coniferous plantations in Mayo
• The appearance of ‘bog scrub’
• Wild Nephin - Seán’s 2020 book about National Park formerly known as Ballycroy
• New Leaf - Sean’s latest poetry book
• Wild Nephin
• Ballina bookshop: Pangur Bán 
  
• Lough Conn and views of Nephin
• Flowers found on the shores of Lough Conn
• Bog myrtle’s use as bath oil and its folklore in Ireland
• How wildlife is faring in Nephin’s conifer plantation
• Future management of lodgepole pine and sitka spruce
• Mayo’s dry summer of 2022
• Irish views of natural landscapes
• The role of bogs in preventing climate breakdown
• Bogs as ‘wastelands’
• Cutting turf in peatlands - sustainable practices versus mechanised extraction
• Herons crossing Lough Conn
• Seán’s hopes of seeing a newly-introduced sea eagle on Lough Conn
• Reintroduction of sea eagles, progress in Kerry, West Cork and Co. Clare, and the Shannon

 

Links:

• Seán's author profile: https://gallerypress.com/authors/g-to-l/sean-lysaght/ 
• Buying Seán's books in the UK: https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/sean+lysaght
• Wild Nephin: https://www.mayobooks.ie/Wild-Nephin-Lysaght
• Enniscoe House: https://www.northmayogenealogy.com/enniscoe-house