Jane Carkill – illustratör

What does Ireland's nature poetry say about us as a people? How does it speak to us of our past, our inheritance, the values to which we aspire? What clues lie within its language that connect us to our deeper selves and our place within our communities and environments?As varied as our plants, animals and habitats, Windfall: Irish Nature Poems to Inspire and Connect presents a portrait of an ever-changing vista. Jane Carkill's captivating original illustrations of Ireland's rich and diverse natural world add to the sense of enchantment and wonder.Each poem pays attention to nature while also reflecting on the loves and losses of our everyday lives. Award-winning poet Jane Clarke's selection includes some of our best-known poets, from Seamus Heaney, Eavan Boland, Michael Longley, Paula Meehan, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Eiléan Ní Chuilleanáin and Paul Muldoon.There are poems here to make us laugh and cry, to help us celebrate and grieve; poems to put words on what can seem inexpressible as we connect to the other living beings with which we share this island.

Did you know that bees have been around for over 100 million years? Or that the Brehon Laws included judgments about the rightful ownership of swarms? And why Irish beekeepers plant bluebells around their hives?From the perfection of their hexagonal honeycombs to their ordered matriarchal society, bees have been revered for thousands of years.In this beautifully illustrated book, beekeeper’s daughter and student of folklore Eimear Chaomhánach weaves folktales about bees with memories of growing up in a beekeeping household, collecting swarms with her father and learning how to harvest honey.With legends about Aristotle and Irish saints and accounts of customs such as ‘telling the bees’, this is a fascinating look at the beliefs and traditions about bees and beekeeping.