Ireland's Generous Nature. 2014. illus. XIV, 750 p. gr8vo. Hardcover.

This is a comprehensive account of the historical and present-day knowledge about Irish plant use, knowledge that has been disappearing fast. More than 1500 wild plants are detailed in a systematic list, which gives both their Irish and English names. Many historical references have been included from a wide range of Irish literature. This lively and scholarly book shows how plants have been used in virtually every aspect of human life in Ireland: food, clothes, medicine, construction, drinks, veterinary medicine, human health and beauty, and even death. The book is richly illustrated with photographs, as well as botanical paintings byIrish artist Lydia Shackleton (18281914). Its blend of scientific and historic facts with myths, superstition and tales offers an remote from industrial development or bourgeois mores, Ireland should offer an encyclopedic heritage of the use of wild plants as food and medicine, for everyday utility or symbolic ritual. For early centuries, indeed, the importance of plant knowledge was tempered as much by a continuing pagan respect for nature asby the herb gardens of the many monasteries.How this knowledge was lost or rejected after the Famine and in the drive for modernity and prosperity is just one thread of Peter Wyse Jacksons epic exploration of Irelands ethnobotanical heritage. It has not been an easy venture, pursued over years and to many sources. One of the richest has been the remarkable folklore collection held in University College, Dublin, much of it in the Irish language. Loss of Irish in the island as a whole, and hostile attitudesbred through clumsy schooling, have helped to rob modern rural culture even of names of plants, let alone their many virtues and uses.In an increasingly synthetic and digital world, however, there remains, or has revived, an intuitive need for reconnection with plants. From the greener reaches of the internet to the new allotments and communal city gardens of Dublineven, indeed, the current fascination with culinary herbs and spicesthis renewal of curiosity adds much value to this book, alongside its obviousbeauty and great ethnobotanical worth. More than half of the 925 native plants of this island have been useful to its people, but nowhere, until now, have their stories been gathered together so systematically, both for Irish readers and the wider cultural and scientific audience. (Michael Viney).