• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Shop
    • Gift Vouchers
    • Binoculars and Scopes
    • View Cart
    • Your Account
      • edit-account
      • edit-address
      • lost-password
  • Wildlife Tours
    • Discover Wildlife Weekends
    • Guided Wildlife and Birding Walks
    • Custom Wildlife and Birding Tours
  • Schools
  • Books
  • News
    • Irish Wildlife News
    • International Wildlife News
    • Wildlife Events
    • Wildlife Press Releases
  • Articles
    • Blog
      • Birding
      • Wildlife Photography
      • Whales and Dolphins
      • Mammals
      • Wildlife Podcasts
        • The Calendar Road
      • Biodiversity
      • Wildlife Calendar
    • Species Profiles
      • Amphibians
      • Birds
      • Fish
      • Fungi
      • Invertebrates
      • Mammals
      • Plants
      • Reptiles
    • Feature Articles
      • Choosing Binoculars
      • Birding for Beginners
      • How to watch whales and dolphins
      • How to watch Basking Sharks
      • Wildlife travel
    • Wildlife Portfolio
    • Wild Wide Web
    • Reviews
      • Book Reviews
      • Gear Reviews
        • Wildlife Optics
          • Binocular Reviews
          • Spotting Scope Reviews
        • Wildlife Clothing
        • Wildlife Accessories
  • Work with us
    • Write for us
    • Advertise with us
    • Sponsorship Opportunities
    • Wildlife Marketing Services
  • About
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Disclosure Statement
    • Cookie policy (EU)
  • Contact

Ireland's Wildlife

Irish wildlife, nature and biodiversity

You are here: Home / Featured / Book Review: Wolves in Ireland

Book Review: Wolves in Ireland

November 23, 2011 by Calvin Jones 4 Comments

Wolves in IrelandWolves… the very word evokes a sense of wonder, admiration and fascination, albeit tempered with a healthy undercurrent of instinctive apprehension. Awe and fear: that’s a pretty evocative combination.

When I heard about “Wolves in Ireland – A natural and cultural history” by Kieran Hickey, published by Four Courts Press, I couldn’t wait to read it!

Whenever I think of wolves I can’t help but wonder how a creature so sleek and powerful, a presence that is so unequivocally there, can at the same time manage to feel somehow ethereal, almost mystical. I was hoping the book, by exploring the role of the wolf in our culture and mythology, as well as it’s natural history on this island, would offer a little insight. 

The wolf disappeared from Ireland much more recently than you might think. While other extinct large mammals like the brown bear, the wild boar and the wildcat have been missing from Ireland’s landscape for at least 1,000 years, the wolf was present into the late 1700s, with some reports suggesting they endured into the early 1800s. Interestingly they survived here much later than their counterparts in Great Britain, which were exterminated much earlier (during the the 1300s in England and Wales, and the late 1600s in Scotland).

An intrinsic part of the Irish landscape for a very long time, the wolf was here long before the first people set foot on this island. According to the author the archaeological record shows that wolves were present a good 20,000 years before the arrival of the first people. So wolves, and interaction with them, have formed an intrinsic part of life in Ireland for people from the very beginning until relatively recently.

Little wonder, then that references to the wolf permeate our history, folklore, mythology and place names.

All of this fascinating stuff the author deals with very thoroughly and methodically. At times too methodically for a volume that is, by all accounts, aimed at the layperson. Much of the prose would benefit from a bit more pace, and active rather than the passive voice of scientific writing.

That criticism aside this book offers a fascinating insight into the world of what was undoubtedly one of Ireland’s most remarkable predators, the possible triggers for it’s decline and ultimate demise, and the thorny issue of possible reintroduction.

A great addition to any wildlife enthusiast’s bookshelf, I can also see “Wolves in Ireland” having broader appeal to those interested in our cultural heritage, and the role this iconic predator has played in defining the Ireland we know today.

“Wolves in Ireland” by Kieran Hickey is published by Four Courts Press

You can buy it online using the links below, or find it in all good bookshops.

Wolves in Ireland

Wolves in Ireland

Kieran Hickey £25.18

Buy This Book from Book Depository, Free Delivery World Wide

Free Worldwide Delivery

Kieran Hickey is a lecturer in the Department of  Geography, NUI Galway. He is the author of “Deluge: Ireland’s weather disasters 2009-10” (Open Air 2010).

Filed Under: Featured, Wildlife Books Tagged With: canis lupus, carnivore, extinct, mammals, predator, review, wolf

About Calvin Jones

Calvin Jones is a freelance writer, author, birder and lifelong wildlife enthusiast. He is founder and editor of IrelandsWildlife.com and founder and wildlife guide of Ireland's Wildlife Tours offering wildlife and birding holidays on Ireland's south coast.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Cormac says

    July 21, 2012 at 02:53

    Hello is their any copy’s available ?

    Reply
    • Calvin says

      July 23, 2012 at 10:01

      Hi Cormac, I would have assumed so, yes, as it’s a relatively new book — but looking at the publisher’s page for the book it appears you can now only buy it from them now if you’re based in the US… which is bizarre for an Irish publisher.

      Their suggested alternative is the International Specialised Book Catalogue, where it’s listed as in stock, or you may find sellers on Amazon who have the title available.

      Reply
      • Dan Lettice says

        June 14, 2013 at 14:19

        Cormac,

        I tracked down a copy from one of the bigger bookstores in Limerick last year having exhausted all options in cork. It was there last copy though. I was going to buy it from the Galway university bookstore….on campus. They had some copies but wouldnt accept a credit card. Id say try them they may still have some.

        Some excellent books on the wolf re-introduction to yellowstone available online too

        Reply
    • Calvin Jones says

      June 14, 2013 at 14:43

      Hi Cormac… Wolves in Ireland has been reprinted in paperback format and is avialable from the publishers website here, and on Amazon.co.uk here — although its currently showing as “Out of Stock on amazon.

      Cheers,

      Calvin!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Search the site

  • Microthemer - Visual editor for your WordPress site

Subscribe to the mailing list

Supporting Ireland’s Wildlife

  • Microthemer - Visual editor for your WordPress site

*****

Footer

Experience Ireland’s Wildlife for yourself

Breaching humpback whale Ireland

Join us on a wildlife adventure on Ireland’s Wild South Coast… and find out first hand why we call this Europe’s Undiscovered Wildlife Frontier.

Find out more…

Ireland's Wildlife runs on the Genesis Framework from StudioPress · Hosted with InterServer

Recent Additions

  • World Migratory Bird Day — ESRI Mapping Migration
  • Vanguard VEO HD 2 8×42 Binocular Review
  • 2023 Discover Wildlife Weekend Dates
  • Review: Hawke Frontier APO 10×42 Binocular
  • Book Review: Crossbill Guides, Ireland
  • Avian Influenza hits Irish seabird colonies
  • German Precision Optics (GPO) Passion HD 10×42 Binocular Review
  • Beneficial Garden Insects and How to Attract Them to Your Garden

Tags

#IWOnTour 8x Binoculars audio binoculars biodiversity birding birds Birdwatch Ireland books cetaceans citizen science CJ Wildlife competition conservation Cork fin whale full size binoculars garden birds garden wildlife Golden Eagle Trust Hawke humpback whale Ireland IWDG Kerry national biodiversity data centre npws optics raptors review reviews spring stranding Vanguard west cork whales whales and dolphins whale watching whalewatching white tailed eagle Wild Atlantic Way Wildlife wildlife crime wildlife photography wildlife podcasts

Take it from the top....

Copyright © 2023 Ireland's Wildlife · Site Design by West Cork Websites · Content by CJ Writing

Manage Cookie Consent
Like most sites, Ireland's Wildlife uses cookies to improve functionality, enhance your user experience and to gauge the popularity of our content.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}