An Irish Atlantic Rainforest by Eoghan Daltun

An Irish Atlantic Rainforest by Eoghan Daltun chronicles the author’s transformative journey to restore a 73-acre farm on the Beara Peninsula in West Cork into a thriving temperate rainforest. After acquiring the land in 2009, Daltun observed how natural regeneration-once freed from grazing pressure-revived a lush ecosystem of native trees like sessile oak, holly, and hazel, alongside ferns, mosses, and rare epiphytes. The book blends memoir with ecological insight, contrasting Ireland’s current depleted woodlands (now covering just 1% of their original expanse) with the vibrant biodiversity that flourishes when human interference recedes. Daltun’s narrative underscores the resilience of nature, offering a hopeful vision of rewilding as a path to heal landscapes scarred by centuries of agricultural overuse.