When the Irish travel writer Richard Hayward set out to explore the Shannon in August 1939, his book Where the River Shannon Flows became an instant classic. Eighty years later, on a meandering journey by foot, boat, bike and car, Paul Clements delves into the Shannon heartland on a footstepping quest to recreate the trip. Hayward began his journey just before the outbreak of World War II and was described as being ‘like the first man up the Nile’. When his book came out in 1940 few people were travelling, so the timing has parallels with today.
In his illustrated talk, Paul Clements discovers how history lives in the landscape and considers how the Shannon – the longest river in either Ireland or Britain – runs through geography, literature and cultural history with a riptide pull on our imagination.
This event has been organised by the Northern Ireland regional committee.
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Please join us on Zoom after the talk for a Q&A with the speaker at 8.20pm. Click here to join the Q&A.