Last week I was in Ireland, on the Beara Penninsula, as part of a research trip for my upcoming book. It’s a remote, gorgeous, haunting part of the world—one of those special places where the land carries endless ancient echoes. This was my first time in Ireland since my late twenties and I fell in love all over again with the landscape, the language, the light.
I clambered up a mountainside as the sun climbed high, and swam in the sea as it set. I counted rainbows, birds and stars. On the last day of my trip, standing on a small, almost uninhabited island, sun streaming gold across the sea, I recorded a voice note for you. If you click on the arrow below, you can listen. I hope it will take you with me—for a few moments—to the wild Atlantic coast.