THE Royal Irish Academy has announced the publication of Ireland: Why it matters to be an island, a new book by Michael Cronin, writes Jackie Keogh.

The author explores the significance of Ireland’s island geography and asks what it means for the country’s history, identity and future.

The book opens with an account of a childhood visit to Toormore Bay.

The author writes about the profound effect the area had on him and how it became the starting point for many of the book's reflections on Ireland as an island.

"Coming from a suburb at the foothills of the Dublin mountains, I could only experience the trip to West Cork as a revelation,” said Michael.

“The ocean-bound island, the geographical abstraction of my schoolbooks, became a vivid, lived reality. The plants, the insects, the sea, the overhead skies unmoored me. Tracking the night time sky in Toormore Bay turned out to be its own kind of odyssey.”

Against the backdrop of the climate emergency, the author explores the need for a heightened awareness of Ireland’s island status and its environmental integrity. 

Michael told the Southern Star: "Being an island has profoundly shaped Ireland’s history, culture and sense of itself, yet we rarely stop to consider what our island status means today. At a time of climate emergency, we need to think beyond the land beneath our feet and recognise Ireland as an island and the Irish as an ocean people.”