Moya Cannon is an acclaimed and award-winning Irish poet. In this programme, she explores a corner of the Burren that has inspired her poems for more than 30 years, meeting experts in the local landscape, archaeology and history.

She tells us about her first encounter with the Burren, which was in a children’s book by Patricia Lynch. She did not set foot on its hills until years later, shortly after she had gone to live in Galway city. She had by then come across Tim Robinson’s map of the Burren and through it discovered a magical corner: the triangle formed by Corcomroe Abbey, St. Colman’s Well, Oughtmama and the ‘Seven Churches’.

In this programme, Moya revisits that triangle, along the way meeting people with a particular interest in and love of the Burren: Maryangela Keane, retired owner of a local hotel; botanist Cilian Roden; Brendan Dunford of BurrenLIFE; art historian Silvina Martín; and local farmer Michael John Connolly.

Throughout the programme we hear poems by Moya from her Collected Poems and her most recent collection, Bunting’s Honey, both published by Carcanet.

Something about Oughtmama
makes me want to lie quietly down
in its tangles of flowers and grasses,
forget sorrow, and then carry on.

(from the poem ‘Oughtmama’)

PHOTOS (left to right): Moya Cannon with Maryangela Keane; Silvina Martín, Moya Cannon and Michael John Connolly; Moya Cannon and Brendan Dunford.

Music in the programme is from the albums Down from Bell Harbour and The Flowing Tide from the late concertina player Chris Droney and performed by Chris Droney and Jacinta McEvoy.

The producer of A Corner of the Burren is Claire Cunningham and the programme is a Rockfinch Production for RTÉ lyric fm.

The programme is available to podcast on the usual podcast platforms and on the RTÉ Radio Player.

This programme is funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television Licence Fee and by RTÉ. Producer for RTÉ lyric fm: Eoin O’Kelly.