While published widely in magazines and periodicals Damien is perhaps best know in Ireland for his weekly environmental column in the Irish Examiner . For twenty years, Damien's column has been a 'must read' for nature lovers, conservationists and travellers. Fine writing is the hallmark of his work.

For a list of articles from the Irish Examiner back to December 2006 please click here

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Coming Soon - The Kindness of Place:

In 1990, having spent over thirty years living overseas, Damien Enright returned to Ireland with his family and settled in West Cork. He has since become established in the first rank of Irish nature writers. This beautifully written book, The Kindness of Place celebrates twenty years in West Cork and follows his acclaimed book, A Place Near Heaven.
Divided into month-by-month chapters, The Kindness of Place describes a calendar of nature and of events in the life of the Enright family and the local world. For the amateur naturalist, there is always something new. The tide washes in and out, bringing its tide-wrack and By-the-Wind sailors; once, it carried a huge whale onto the strand. A fledgling heron, falling from its nest, had to be adopted by the family or it would not survive. The benevolence of nature and of the local people pervades this book, a tribute to the kindness to be found in this place.
In recent years, ‘development’ came and went, but the character of the local people remains unchanged: the sons and daughters grow to adulthood, as good-natured as their parents. The Enrights, once 'blow-ins', are now neighbours.

Extracts:

"Of the shore birds, the dunlin, barely bigger than house sparrows, are especially spectacular. Over the muddy channels of the bay, they rise and fall like phrases in a symphony, slow now as they ascend, fast as they fall, swooping and sweeping in undulations, suddenly rising from horizontal to vertical, a pillar of birds expanding and contracting like a concertina or one of those Christmas decorations we take out each year. I stand enthralled; they take my breath away."
‘In May, as the days warm up and the rain of the winter stops, we begin to see what Marie calls The Timoleague Outdoor Social Club, a small group of not-so-young men in caps and hats, sitting in the sun on the new, brightly painted benches beside the Abbey, with a pleasant view of the bridge and the waters of the lovely Argideen.’

Damien Enright's new book The Kindness of Place - Twenty Years in West Cork. On the book shelves, from Amazon or from the publisher from mid-March 2012.

A Place Near Heaven

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A Place Near Heaven, first published in 2004, continues to be bought by visitors and by West Cork residents, many of whom keep it as a household or bedside book and have read it over and over again. It has been sent it all over the world as a paen of praise to Ireland in general and West Cork in particular. It conveys the beauty and values of that gentle world better than any other book. Gill & Macmillan will be publishing a second volume, entitled The Kindness of Place, in spring 2012.


A Place Near Heaven was broadcast by RTE Radio 1 (Irish public-service broadcaster) as the “Book on One” in January 2010. To listen to Damien reading from this book please click here.


More about A Place Near Heaven....

Scenic Walks in West Cork

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More than a turn-left turn-right walking guide, the text provides a treasury of information on the natural history and human history encountered on the selected routes. The text is an engaging narrative, while the photographs illustrate the beauty of the landscapes, its wild creatures and wild flowers, and its built heritage from the Stone Age to the present day.

More about Scenic Walks of West Cork....

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That morning, when we left for London, I rose in the dark and went into the big kitchen where the double doors were open to let in the pre-dawn light. I found Hanna squatting by the embers of last night’s fire in the big hearth set into the gable wall. A lighted candle stood on a stone beside her, and she was pouring boiling water from a blackened saucepan into a jug, making me coffee. I pulled on my old Cuban-heeled boots and stood in the doorway for a minute, looking out at the sky still filled with stars, and the dark line of the sea below them. On the camino, by the gate, I saw cigarette tips glowing in the darkness: Rick and Carlo, waiting; maybe they’d been up all night. At the fire, Hanna held out a cup of coffee and a plate with bread and sardines, but I was too excited to eat and, besides, we had a nine-kilometre walk to La Sabina where we’d catch the daily boat to Ibiza, the first leg of our journey to the north. It was September 1964.

Reviews: Sunday Independent ~ Irish Independent ~ Nthposition ~ Stewart Home Society ~ Amazon Customer Reviews~ Irish Examiner ~ Liberties Press

Dope in the Age of Innocence should be required reading for women who insist that men cannot be romantic. It is not short on sex and drugs but is innocent, too, thanks to the author’s faith - if not quite fidelity - in love and his belief in the art of words. Set when the world was vast and to explore it was an adventure, it is a paean to free spirits and is the only accurate description I have come across of Ibiza when the island was known only to an eclectic group of arty, cheerfully druggy, free-spirited foreign residents, of which I was briefly one. Irma Kurtz, Cosmopolitan columnist, author of The Great American Bus Ride, writer/presenter BBC Ibiza The Original Party Island

Walks of Seven West Cork Islands

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This book takes us to the inhabited islands of West Cork. Some are scarcely inhabited and hardly seem part of the world we know. The scenery is everywhere unspoiled and magnificent. Wild flowers bloom in profusion; humans are few; traffic is non-existent.
The only sound is bird song and the hum of bees. The ozone in the air is heady, and immensities of mountain, sea and sky surround us. As the endorphins kick in, one can almost hear celestial choirs on the breeze.

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Ireland County By County

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Initially published by Salamander Books UK, this hardback and paperback coffee-table volume was reprinted by Gill & Macmillan. The Munster section is written by Damien Enright and the volume is edited by Prof. Joe Lee of University College Cork.
For a small island, Ireland is astonishing diverse. It is difficult to capture the elusive essence of the country by treating it as a single unit, for the charm of its regional subcultures is part of its unique attraction. Ireland, County by County is a celebration of these differences.

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West Cork walk series

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Damien Enright's Walks of West Cork describe easy rambles through some of the most beautiful scenery in Ireland. Easy loop walks of about 5 miles (8 km). Thirty routes are covered, accessible to all ages and chosen for their natural beauty and interest. The commentaries are lively and engaging, covering the pre-history, history and natural history we encounter as we go. There is beauty and interest in every step and the walks are a gentle learning process of Ireland's past and its flora and fauna.

More about the West Cork walk series....

"The author wishes to advise readers that some walks in these volumes, written over a decade ago, no longer exist. They should refer to Scenic Walks in West Cork for updated, 2011 routes"

The Kerry Walk Series

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The series of Kerry walks comprises Six easy walks of Walks of Killarney and Kenmare and Easy Walks of West Dingle.
There is no better way to appreciate Kerry's romance and beauty than to leave the car and walk amongst it. The hills and lakes ring out the silence, the freshness of the air is felt and the magic of the ever-changing light observed. Wild deer cross the forest paths and examples of the unique Lusitanian flora and fauna can be found in every second hedgerow.

More about The Kerry Walk Series....

"The author wishes to advise readers that some walks in these volumes, written over a decade ago, no longer exist. They should refer to Scenic Walks in West Cork for updated, 2011 routes"

Broadcaster

Enright's Way (2002) 3-part RTE I series on Irish heritage and environment written and presented by Damien Enright. Each programme was Pick of the Day in The Irish Times and Critic's Choice in The Sunday Times. Liam Fay, writing in The Sunday Times, 4 August 2002 , said

"This three part strand of Townlands documentaries has been that rare thing, a heritage series that didn't make you want to rush out and campaign for the immediate building of shopping malls in the Burren."

Common Ground, his 2001 television documentary on Castletownshend, also won critical acclaim.

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