This is a comprehensive account of the wildlife of the Aran Islands in Galway Bay by an author intimately familiar with the landscape. It summarizes the key facts from the writings on Aran, illustrates them copiously with over a hundred colour photographs, and condenses the whole into a single, handy source for exploring the diverse and abundant wildlife of the islands. The chapters are organized as follows: In the Beginning - The Geology of Aran, Climate, Flora, Fauna, Seashore, and Farming in Aran.
"The Nature Guide to the Aran Islands" throws open a window onto one of the environmental treasure troves of Europe's western seaboard. The outcome of lifelong study and observation by an expert in his field, it will become an invaluable and enduring reference work.
CON O'ROURKE graduated from UCD in General Agriculture and trained in microbiology and plant pathology, working for Teagasc for forty years. He has been President of the Institute of Biology of Ireland, Chairman of the Science Committee of the Royal Dublin Society, and served on various committees of the Royal Irish Academy, while organizing natural history courses as Gaeilge in the Aran Islands for trainee teachers, students and tourists. In 1990 his bilingual natural history video was issued, complemented by a poster on local flora, Blatha Arann, in 1993. He has edited several scientific publications.