Ireland is a land replete with natural wonders, but we live in an age when our native wildlife is under threat like never before. Centuries of hunting and habitat loss have already wiped out some of our most iconic species, from the once-feared grey wolf to the flightless great auk – Ireland’s very own ‘penguin’. 

In The Living and the Dead, acclaimed writer Conor W. O’Brien travels the country to tell the stories of our amazing lost wildlife, from the mighty sturgeon to the minuscule mountain ringlet butterfly. He reveals the tragedies behind their demise and the lessons they impart for today’s conservationists. For across the country, passionate people are fighting to protect endangered species and reintroduce those once lost. The return of creatures long gone, like the common crane and great spotted woodpecker, are celebrated in these pages. Such comebacks offer a vision of a return to a wilder Ireland, one in which humans and nature thrive in a land where eagles fly again.