Saving Eden by Kevin Corcoran | My Cousin Jane's Book Review
Posted by My Cousin Jane on 8th Aug 2021
My cousin Jane has always been a voracious reader and the family bibliophile. When she's not walking her dog Pebbles by the sea, she can usually be found with a book in her hands. Over the course of the pandemic, her appetite for books has never diminished and I can always rely on her to recommend interesting new titles for me to read ("I've already read that" is the standard response I get when I try to return the favour). Jane's recommendations have never steered me wrong, and so I thought it would be good idea to share them with you! Every month, Jane is going to share her review of a book she has enjoyed and hopefully it might encourage you to pick up a copy and try it for yourself!
- Joan Lucey, owner Vibes & Scribes
Ecologist and nature lover Kevin Corcoran has written a book that is a lovely blend of social and nature history, family history, folklore, legend and the healing power of nature about The Gearagh, Ireland's last primeval forest, a fragment of which surives near Macroom, County Cork.
While he laments the destruction of Westerns Europe's last river forest by The Lee Hydroelectric Scheme 1956, Mr. Corcoran makes a plea for sustainable living and restoration of our connection with nature in the years ahead. We must learn from past mistakes. The author's own ancestors were themselves forest dwellers from the Gearagh and he learnt about much of their ways from his grandmother, whose stories he lovingly recounts, including the twenty-five Gearagh Prophecies which foretell the return of tyranny and chaos to the world, each prediction beginning 'The Day will come....'
The first prophecy 'The Day will come when the River Lee will flow backwards' came true in October 1956. Personally I like the eleventh prophcey; 'The Day will come when the lowest of files in the parish reach the highest offices in the land.'
The myths, legends and culture of the Gearagh forest people are fasinating. The forest spirits of good (Annu) and the Evil ( Dorcha) are explained, Brehon Laws as they pertained to trees and plants are outlined and the possible danger of 'Meascán Mearaide' or 'confused direction' discussed. (This reminded me of stories about Hungry Grass told to me by my mother who was from West Cork.)
Saving Eden is illustrated through out with watercolour and ink sketches. A book about nature certainly but so much more - myths, legends and traditions and a sobering account of a centuries old way of life that was swept away in the name progress. This book is a lament for a vanished civilization but ends with a cautiously optimistic 'Four S's blueprint for the way ahead, a simple, sustainable pathway, in harmony with nature's healing power.
I loved this book.