The Irish Atlantic Rainforest series: my thoughts

So the two-part series, I found it great, I have to say.

I thought that, from the cinematography, the composition of the music, the score by Anna Rice was fantastic and added such an element to the entire series. I think that, from an overview perspective, Eoghan Daltun's poetic manner in which he describes his feelings upon first discovering the site is just a joy to watch. I really, really found it engaging, and, as I said, the cinematography and the words spoken by Eoghan really draw you in.

And I found that, although I already wanted to purchase land and establish a native forest on the land, watching this series has lit a fire under me, whereby I want to get going even sooner on that project. It really has affirmed my beliefs that this is such a great way to leave an impact, in a positive way, on nature. And I really respect the efforts Eoghan has went to. I think they're fantastic.

And I would say, at this point, I have watched the series multiple times, and it's still as good as the first time I watched it.

From his description of what took place, i.e. he initially viewed the land and the word "sacred" came to his mind. This really stuck with me upon looking at the programme. And he quickly took measures to fence off the land to protect it from wild goats and sika deer, which were essentially eating the saplings and other native ground cover plants that were growing there. I thought this was a great measure, and something I would look to do myself if I ever managed to purchase some land for rewilding purposes.

I also found that the issue of rhododendrons being invasive was mentioned here, and I've seen that there's great efforts currently in Ireland to eradicate Rhododendron ponticum. And it seems to be, genuinely, a significant threat to native woodlands re-establishing in areas where it's begun to spread already.

I found also that the backstory to do with Eoghan's past, and how he became interested in, I suppose, rewilding essentially, was also very interesting.

I think that the real message behind this, to me, upon watching it, was, I suppose, a harrowing feeling: that something needs to be done. And I know I'm not the only one who feels this in Ireland, and I know there has to be a network of people out there who would also like to embark on a mission such as Eoghan's, as I do myself. This has made me think about a kind of a patchwork native forest scheme, of which I'm sure there is already efforts being undertaken by other citizens in the country. If that's you, I'd love to hear from you.

I found that, as mentioned above, this really lit a fire under me, and I'm actively searching property websites for cheap plots of agricultural land with the hopes of converting to native woodland. I know there is a lot to this, and it is something I definitely want to investigate in future.

So, yes, I really would like to meet Eoghan Daltun at some point, just to almost say thank you for the fantastic series that he has brought out. Also, he has books which I've yet to read and look forward to doing so.

And I think it's this kind of creative, inspiring work that we need to see more of, and especially the quality at which this was produced was just fantastic, I thought. As I said, from a cinematic point of view, from an information point of view, and just, I suppose, the general ambience that's created whilst watching the programme, is just something that I've truly been searching for on YouTube for quite some time now. And I was happy to see that this was an Irish creation, and available on the RTÉ Player.

So, yes, truly, props to everyone involved. What a fantastic series, and an inspiration for all who watched it, I'm sure.