Description
‘We started off, my wife Anne and I, with a big field, bare except for grass and rushes and, along one ditch, a couple of old elder trees, and at the end a big willow bush, probably marking a division of land. Thirty years later it is a wood, a garden, with an orchard of apples and soft fruit, and it is full of birdsong. The work of many hands has gone into making it: some hands have been directly laid on; a great many other people provided inspiration.’
Salt Wind, Rising Water is a gentle ode to nature and a captivating account of how two Dubliners transformed two wild, windswept acres on Sligo’s north coast into a thriving wood, orchard, and garden. Over thirty years, John S. Doyle and his family were welcomed into a vibrant community of writers, painters, and small farmers who encouraged their vision and shared in their journey.
Battling harsh winters, salt-laden winds and dramatic storms, the couple learned resilience, patience, and the hard-earned rewards of working with the land. Doyle reflects on the highs and lows of this decades-long endeavour; its setbacks, small miracles, and the deep connection to place that grew alongside the trees.
Blending nature writing, memoir, and practical guidance, this book offers inspiration for anyone dreaming of creating a landscape on a modest budget. At its heart, this is a story of cultivating beauty, nurturing community, and discovering the quiet magic of helping a place take root.
Contents
1. ‘This strange and beautiful place’
2. ‘I wouldn’t let them in on your little trees’
3. Fixing up the house
4. A shelter belt
5. ‘There could be a twenty-years falling out over something like this’
6. ‘The drowsy, endless sands’
7. ‘Rain, rain, rain’
8. What we planted
9. ‘City blocks, with streets or alleys going between them’
10. ‘You robbed a bank’
11. Provenance
12. Up on Ben Bulben
13. The Ocean Boys
14. ‘There are paintings here that give us the whole world’
15. Lost in the wood
16. A swarm of bees
17. The road over the Curlews
18. ‘Golden fields lie out before me’
19. The art of the drag
20. Apples
21. ‘From this world to the next’
22. The sea rises up
23. The promised land
About the Author
John S. Doyle is a journalist and presents ‘It Says in the Papers’ on Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio 1. He was the founder editor of In Dublin, the arts and current affairs magazine which flourished in the 1970s and 1980s and uncovered the talents of such writers as Colm Tóibín and Fintan O’Toole, the photographers Tony O’Shea and Tony Murray, and the cartoonist Tom Mathews.
