Connemara: The Last Pool of Darkness

Description

'At the end of it all, he will have raised an imperishable monument to the West' Brian Lynch, Irish Independent 'The reader of this wonderful book will learn about the natural history, folklore and topography of the area from one of the great polymaths of our time - who is also, thankfully, a gifted literary stylist with an elegant turn of phrase and a lovely dry wit' Alannah Hopkin, Irish Examiner 'With the eye of an outsider and the zeal of a convert he has uncovered and revealed this place to native inhabitants and visitors in an extraordinary way . . . a sheer delight to read' Ruairi Quinn, Irish Mail on Sunday ' Robinson is one of the finest of contemporary prose stylists . . . an astonishing and almost infinitely provocative work' John Burnside, Irish Times

A native of Yorkshire, Tim Robinson studied maths at Cambridge and then worked for many years as a visual artist in Istanbul, Vienna and London, among other places. In 1972 he moved to the Aran Islands and commenced a multi-decade project of mapping and writing about Aran and Connemara. He is the author of the two-volume Stones of Aran and the Connemara trilogy, each published to great acclaim. He died in 2020.

An astonishing and almost infinitely provocative work ... it is a rare pleasure to be among those engaged in the salvage of so rich a treasure -- John Burnside * Irish Times * One of the most remarkable non-fiction projects undertaken in English -- Robert Macfarlane * Spectator * A masterpiece of travel and topographical writing and a miraculous, vivid and engrossing meditation on landscape and history and the sacred mood of places -- Colm Toibin * Irish Times Books of the Year * Reading Tim Robinson on Connemara is almost as good as being there - better in some ways * Irish Examiner * An imperishable monument to the West * Irish Independent *