Listen to the Land Speak: A Journey into the wisdom of what lies beneath us

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Besides containing a wealth of history and mythology – inextricably linked of course, this is Ireland after all – Magan has composed an antidote to the paralysing nihilism of the overwhelming climate crisis discourse. Throughout it all is an implicit call to action that could well be transformative. Una Mullally

Listen to the Land Speak: History and mythology meet in a Listen to the Land Speak: History and mythology meet in a

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Magan interestingly weaves Irish mythology, local stories, personal experience, archaeology, geography and more together in a delightful narrative about our spiritual and cultural history. Having been brought up in Dublin, with long periods spent in the West Kerry Gaeltacht of Corca Dhuibhne, Manchán now lives near Lough Lene, Co. Westmeath, surrounded by oak trees. If you don't let it put you off and instead embrace it as a means for understanding the book will work as well for you as it did for me.

Listen to the Land Speak: A Journey into the Wisdom of What

Bestselling writer and documentary-maker Manchán Magan presents a lecture entitled “ Listen to the Land Speak: Lost Wisdom of the Land and Language of Ireland,” based on his recently published book of the same title. Inspired by language, landscape and mythology, Magan explores the insight and hidden wisdom native Irish culture offers to the people of Ireland and the world. Introduced by Visiting Leonard L. Milberg ’53 Professor in Irish Letters and Chair of the Fund for Irish Studies Fintan O’Toole. Photo courtesy Manchán Magan A very beautiful book telling stories of the history of Ireland’s mythology and pre-Christian religious/spiritual tradition. Immediately connecting the reader with this history and the land from which the stories came. If there were more people like Magan around Ireland, and for that matter the world would be a better place. Pléann leabhar Mhanchán le aibhneacha, bailte, logainmeacha agus an cheangail atá idir béaloideas agus miotaseolaíocht na tíre seo. In Listen to the Land Speak, he offers a fractal version of Ireland, where myth overlaps with history, the fantastical with the practical, the superstitious with the scientific. “Just as a fractal can be limited to a finite area and yet is infinitely magnifiable,” he writes, “so too is Ireland host to an infinity of wisdom and wonder.”And He said to me, "Prophesy concerning these bones and tell them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! Speaking about why rivers and important places were often feminine nouns despite surviving in a patriarchal society, Manchán suggests that when he scratched the surface of Irish myths and legends that he found women were often in a place of power. Manchán[’s] … got some theories about the roots of the Irish language that are going to blow your head off … an incredible storyteller.' Blindboy Boatclub

Listen to the Land Speak’ Manchán Magan on his new book ‘Listen to the Land Speak’

The best parts of this book are Magan's brief encounters with the fascinating and understudied fields of geomythology and archaeomythology - the study of myths as possible records of real geological and historical events, such as comet impacts, the end of the Ice Age, or the disappearance of landmasses and even civilisations (perhaps the most famous example of which is Atlantis). For example, he establishes that the archaeological evidence pointing to the date of Lough Neagh's flooding closely matches the date given in the lake's mythological origin story down through the oral tradition. Unfortunately, he makes only cursory references to these ideas and explores none of them in any detail. He explicitly chooses to ignore the discovery of a 33,000-year-old carved reindeer bone in Ireland, which demolishes the accepted theory that the island has only been inhabited for 6,000 years, because he does not know what to make of it. He also makes no reference whatsoever to the extraordinary fact, mentioned in his previous book, that the people who built Newgrange have been found to be genetically discontinuous with the modern Irish population, strongly suggesting that not only is the structure much older than previously thought but that there may have been waves of settlers as yet unaccounted for in the historical record. The potential implications of these and other findings are enormous and there was a much more interesting book which could have (and still should be) written about these things, offering us a new understanding of our past and a new significance to our present. Low the sun; short its course”: Tracing the Celtic ritual cycle through music, manuscript and performance In this illuminating new book, Manchan Magan sets out on a journey, through bogs, across rivers and over mountains, to trace these ancestor's footsteps. He uncovers the ancient myths that have shaped our national identity and are embedded in the strata of land that have endured through millennia - from ice ages through to famines and floods.It's a very good book with some upsetting topics ranging from ancient celtic mythology about rape and slaughter, Christian conversion and abuse of pagan beliefs, destructions of bog lands and the environment, to oppression by the English, to famine and the killing of unbaptised children. I first heard Manchán Magan speak on the Blindboy podcast and found the way he spoke about the land and mythology so interesting. I then went on to listen to his own podcast The almanac of Ireland and also really enjoyed that. Get directions and find venue information for the James Stewart Film Theater at 185 Nassau Street. COVID-19 Guidance + Updates Magan weaves his narrative around the land as we go through the centuries each chapter leading onto the next, meeting goddesses, hero’s and kings. Until we are hit with the reality of the famine, or the great hunger as it should be know. He is right that you cannot talk about the land and what it says to us without speaking about the effect this tragic time in history had on the land and it’s people and the effects that are still being felt, and as British person i can only apologise for the atrocities my country did to Ireland and many other places.

Listen to the Land Speak by Manchán Magan - Dublog Listen to the Land Speak by Manchán Magan - Dublog

In this illuminating new book, Manchán Magan sets out on a journey, through bogs, across rivers and over mountains, to trace these ancestor’s footsteps. He uncovers the ancient myths that have shaped our national identity and are embedded in the strata of land that have endured through millennia – from ice ages through to famines and floods. Writer and broadcaster Manchán Magan, joined Kieran to discuss his new book, ‘Listen to the Land Speak’, a book that sets out to trace our ancestors, uncovering myths that have defined the Irish identity... Manchán Magan is a writer and documentary-maker. He has written books in Irish and English on his travels in Africa, India and South America. His most recent books are Thirty-Two Words for Field, which explores the insights the Irish language offers into the landscape, psyche and heritage of Ireland; and Tree Dogs, Banshee Fingers and Other Irish Words for Nature, an illustrated book that delves into Irish words for nature. He writes occasionally for the Irish Times and presents The Almanac of Ireland podcast about the heritage and culture of Ireland for RTÉ Radio 1. He has presented scores of television documentaries on history and culture.I thoroughly enjoyed Thirty-Two Words for Field, which is a fascinating glimpse into the ancient knowledge and forgotten connotations of a language intimately tied up with folklore, mythology, and pre-history. My biggest complaint about that book is that it is woefully short and touched only fleetingly on so many facts and topics that I hoped would be explored in more detail in Listen to the Land Speak. In this book, Magan appears to set out on a related exercise, which is to tie elements of the Irish landscape, rather than the Irish language, to ancient mythology, religion, custom, and life. This had the potential to be just as if not even more interesting than his first book, but unfortunately it falls flat. Hear, O earth! I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their own schemes, because they have paid no attention to My word and have rejected My instruction.