A Journey Along the Shannon


For his new travel book on Ireland, Paul Clements has been on a meandering journey along the River Shannon, following in the footsteps of the writer and singer Richard Hayward. His book looks back at Ireland in the 1930s but also considers the present-day Shannon which he believes is


now having a moment. In the 1930s Ireland was a young country


still trying to find its feet in the decade following partition. Old-fashioned farming defined the landscape and agriculture was the mainstay of the economy. Richard Hayward (1892-1964), who was born in Southport, Lancashire, but grew up in Larne, was noted for his travel books on different parts of Ireland. In 1938 he had published his popular book In Praise of Ulster with illustrations by the artist Humbert Craig who lived in Cushendun.


Hayward explored the River Shannon in August 1939, just two weeks before the outbreak of World War II. He set off on his famous journey from Belfast to the starting point at the Shannon Pot in Co Cavan in a 12 horsepower Austin car and drove the back roads trailing a caravan hired from the Irish Caravan Company at a cost of £10. His book, Where the River


Shannon Flows topped the Irish Times non-fiction charts when it was published in 1940. The title came from a song written by James Russell, sung by his brother John, as well as John Count McCormack and was first issued around the turn of the twentieth century; in those days, the Shannon was known as ‘The


Irish Swanee River’. On his journey Hayward was


accompanied by a photographer and cameraman who made a film later shown at cinemas all around Ireland. He presented a snapshot of social history, portraying families living on remote islands and secluded shores. It was a countryside with few cars and no tractors where people worked in the fields. Hayward was a fluent writer, highly regarded by critics and the public, and his book was written with candour in a bracingly honest style. Tree men in a car, towing a caravan with their cameras, gear and supplies, were a novelty and sometimes locals trailed along behind them. On the eve of momentous world events, Hayward presents a startling pastoral contrast in the preface about their departure: “A warm sun in the sky, a genuine thrill of expectancy and joy in our hearts, and many a song in our mouths as we sped past the sweet fields of Ireland.”


Many people today are not


aware of Hayward’s legacy although one man likened his Shannon trip as though he were “The first man up the Nile.” For my journey by car, bicycle, boat and on foot, I wanted to see what traces, if any, of him were still visible. I was also keen to explore as Hayward would have done, and to try to understand his motivations and love of the Shannon. Travelling in the footsteps of someone, or footstepping as it is known, has become a popular style of writing. A form of time-travel, it involves recreating the physical trail made by another person and linking the past to


the present. Te timing of the Shannon book has


parallels with today since people were not travelling then because of the war. Time-


travel, or footstepping, is a fascinating aspect of writing which involves recreating an earlier journey, linking the past to the present. My route followed the course of the river with boat trips to islands where Hayward had gone, and along stretches of the Shannon and its lakes. While the river may not have changed much, one of the biggest differences has been in the roads. Hayward described the road from Rooskey to Tarmonbarry in Roscommon as a dirt track, recounting the misery created by limestone dust that was thrown up as his convoy made its way along it: “We had not travelled more than a mile of this little road before our car and our caravan, and everything within and without them, lay under a thick layer of white powder, which had such a degree of penetration that for a full three months aſter I had leſt this limestone country it would continue to creep out from the joints and crevices of my car every time it was hosed.”


Since Hayward drove along


it, the road has, of course, been tarred and widened and is now marketed as the East Roscommon Scenic Drive. Along its thirteen kilometres are prosperous houses and neat bungalows with gable walls sprouting satellite dishes. The road runs parallel with the river although trees, high hedges and shrubbery means that it is flowing incognito. The river is still slow and ponderous, twisting and turning, sliding sinuously in the same way as it has always


done. One location I was keen to visit was the


Black Islands on Lough Ree. Hayward spent time there with the O’Hara and Hanley families, the last people living on King’s Island. He said he was treated like a king because of the hospitality he received: “Mary Hanley made a grand meal of good strong tea, fresh boiled eggs, and bread, baked by herself, light as a feather, and fit for a king. Indeed, it’s a cunning hand the same Mrs Hanley has for the baking, and her husband a luckier man maybe than he knows!” Mary Hanley’s nephew, Paddy Hanley,


brought me out in his lake boat from the harbour at Carrownure Bay to show me the house where he had lived until 1985. We walked around the island where goats, nesting ducks and birds mostly stay hidden. King’s Island, which is just eight hectares, is made up of a floristically diverse jungle of tall plants and we found the silvery foliage of wormwood, a plant with a distinct aroma that was used for medicinal purposes and to flavour alcoholic drinks. It is hard to


imagine how this patch of soil, a bleak and remote place in which to live, once constituted the entire world for several families.


For years, many towns turned their backs on the river but are now embracing it. Today farmers, fishermen and recreational users all have a different relationship with it. Fáilte Ireland has launched a new regional tourism branding scheme, ‘Hidden Heartlands,’ a route running from Sligo to Limerick, taking in both banks of the Shannon. Along with a new marketing plan from Waterways Ireland, and the Atlantic Edge campaign in Limerick, the Shannon is


clearly having a moment. This year life has slowed down for


many people who have reconnected with their surroundings and discovered places on their doorstep. It has also redefined our relationship with the natural world and led to a river revival. The callows, bogland parks such as Lough Boora or Clara Bog, the new blueways and cycleways in Drumshanbo and around Lough Derg, are attractive places in which to spend time holidaying at home, experiencing the gentle comfort of sitting by the riverbank. Boating enthusiasts can choose from mooring for lunch at an easy- going quayside pub, or a trip to Holy Island (Inis Cealtra) with the charismatic boatman and fount of local knowledge Ger Madden; or you can hitch a ride on the world’s oldest Viking longboat with ‘Viking Mike’ from Athlone to Lough Ree or Clonmacnoise.


Shannon Country: A


River Journey Through Time by Paul Clements is published by The Lilliput Press at £13. His biography Romancing Ireland: Richard Hayward 1892-1964, is also published by Lilliput at £15. Both are available from bookshops or from lilliputpress.ie.


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