aaaaaKERRY ECOLOGICAL NEWS

Carrauntoohil & MacGillycuddy’s Reeks
A Walking Guide to Ireland’s Highest Mountains
Jim Ryan


Recently the remains of a Swedish hillwalker were found at the foot of a Kerry hillside almost
two years after he had gone missing. Tragedies such as this indicate the potential value of
good guidebooks.
Over 25,000 walkers visit the Carrauntoohil and Macgillycuddy Reeks region annually and for
those not familiar with the area a proper guidebook is essential. After many years of research
Jim Ryan has considerable background knowledge and experience of these mountains. For this
book he has met and photographed the owners of Carrauntoohil and the Reeks and recorded
their history and association with the lands. There is a vivid account of the eviction of a family
fifty years ago from their home in the Gap of Dunloe, and how they moved into the Black
Valley. Also included is a study of the placenames and the folklore behind them. The geology
of the mountains, their structure and fault lines, flora and fauna are also detailed.
Most critically, the twenty walks, ranging from easy low-level to strenuous routes, are
described in detail and illustrated with fifteen specially-commissioned original colour maps,
produced by Ordnance Survey Ireland. In addition, there are nearly two hundred colour
photographs. The walk descriptions contain detailed instructions for those not familiar with
the area. Each walk is assigned a difficulty rating, its difficulties are spelled out, and there are
specific safety instructions, survival tips and escape routes.
JIM RYAN is a civil engineer living in Cork. A regular mountain walker in Ireland and abroad,
he has a particular interest in geology and claims his spiritual home is on the Reeks of Kerry.
His first book, Aconcagua – The Highest Trek in the World was published by Cicerone in 2004.
For further information, photographs or interviews with the author please contact:
Con Collins
Tel: 021-4347717 / Mob: 087-2513922 / e-mail: con.collins@collinspress.ie

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Title: Hard Rain

Author: Lloyd Timberlake, Mark Edwards (Ill), Bob Dylan (Contributor)
Description: Subtitle: Our Headlong Collision with Nature

In July 1969, Mark Edwards, lost on the edge of the Sahara, is rescued by a Tuareg nomad, who takes him to his people, makes a fire and produced a cassette player. Bob Dylan sings A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall. As Dylan piles image upon image, the idea comes to Edwards of illustrating each line of the song.In the years that follow, he travels to over 150 countries to photograph our headlong collision with nature. Hard Rain is the result - an unforgettable collection of photographs illustrating Dylans prophetic lyric. Images from Edwards personal archive, plus contributions by Sebastião Salgado, Chris Steele-Perkins and others, combine with the words of rock musics great, poetic writer to form the centrepiece of Hard Rain.Award-winning author Lloyd Timberlakes brilliantly argued reproach of our lack of action in the face of global collapse, will inspire readers to participate in the complex debate about how we should best address the pressing issues of climate change, environmental degradation and world poverty.A donation of 50p from every sale of this book is pledged to the Eden Projects Education Centre, The Core, to help fund its ongoing exhibitions, workshops/classes and Public Talkshops.For more information on the issues raised in this book visit www.hardrainproject.com

About the Authors
Mark Edwards is one of the most widely published editorial photographers in the world. He founded Still Pictures, regarded as the leading photo agency specialising in environmental issues, the Third World and nature. He is the co-author of Changing Consciousness with David Bohm and has written several books on photography. He is based in London.

Lloyd Timberlake is the internationally acclaimed author of Africa in Crisis. He has worked in and reported from more than 65 countries, for the past 25 years focusing on environment and development issues in association with NGOs, governments and companies. He now lives outside Washington, DC, US.

Reviews

A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall was one of the defining protest songs of the sixties. While its original inspiration was the threat of nuclear meltdown, it has been effortlessly transposed into a modern context by Mark Edwards, whose plangent photographic essay is as moving a piece of work as I have seen for a long time. It is also important and timely because it is the sixties generation who now make up the bulk of the establishment. A reminder of how, little by little, our capacity for righteous anger has been eroded by the years of compromise so many of us have lived through, may just move us once more to remember what it is like to yell at the top of our voices, enough. This disturbing, powerfully moving work is a masterpiece that summons up the ghosts of our past and a vision of a future that was ours to change. Regret and optimism make strange bedfellows, but great artists have always known this. - Tim Smit, Chief Executive and co-founder, The Eden Project

By his lyrics, Bob Dylan has proved himself to be an astonishing prophet. More importantly, he has inspired Mark Edwards to publish this series of deeply moving photos of the plight of the planet and its people. But both Dylan and Edwards will have failed unless the readers of this book are moved to action. - Lester Brown, President, Earth Policy Institute

128pp 210x170

Subtopic: Photography
Year: 2006
Code: 7305
Price: €21.00