Bird expert Seán Ronayne had an extremely busy 2024 – starting with an interview on The Tommy Tiernan Show and ending with a top prize at the Irish Book Awards (as well as a newborn daughter).
Now Seán is embarking on a nationwide tour – taking audiences ” on a beautiful journey through Irish birds, sharing their sounds, stories and struggles.” Seán has been on a mission to record the call of every bird species in Ireland – and in doing so has produced a documentary and an award-winning memoir all in the space of one year.
2025’s tour will see Seán giving a presentation at St Luke’s at 7:30pm on Friday, March 21 – with shows in other cities and counties including Kerry, Clare and Tipperary. Seán will be joined at the Cork show by Eoghan Daltun, author of The Magic of an Irish Rainforest.
Of the tour Seán’s website explains: “In this sound-packed, illustrative talk, Seán will bring you on a beautiful journey through Irish birds, sharing their sounds, stories and struggles.
“Along the way we get to know Seán, whose hypersensitivity to sound has proven both a struggle and a strength. At once inspiring and cautionary, Seán’s journey illustrates the beauty and importance of sound, and what listening can tell us about the state of our natural world, and how it can also heal and nourish the soul.”
Tickets for the St Luke’s show are going fast – so you want to grab them quickly from Eventbrite here. Tickets are €25 each.
Other dates include:
- Jan’ 25 – Out to Lunch Festival, The Black Box, Belfast, Co. Antrim
- Feb’ 28 – Swift Cultural Centre, Trim, Co. Meath
- Mar’ 21 – Live at St. Luke’s (with Eoghan Daltun), Cork City, Co. Cork
- Apr’ 11 – The Dock Arts Centre, Carrick-on-Shannon, Co. Leitrim
- Apr’ 24 – Source Arts Centre, Thurles, Co. Tipperary
- Apr’ 25 – Mermaid Arts Centre, Bray, Co. Wicklow
- May 1 – Glór Theatre, Ennis, Co. Clare
- May 30 – Siamsa Tire, Tralee, Co. Kerry
- July 15 – Royal Irish Academy of Music (with Dara McAnulty), Co. Dublin
- July 30 – The Moat Theatre, Naas, Co. Kildare
In November Seán celebrated a big win at the Irish Book Awards for his memoir Nature Boy: A Journey of Birdsong and Belonging , which scooped Biography of the Year.
Of the amazing win Seán said: “We took home Irish Biography of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. I was so overcome with emotion. This book means everything to me. It’s my love letter to Irish nature. My way of trying to make a difference. Thank you so much everyone.”
This book is for my little Laia. I adore you and one day we will go for adventures in nature together.”