Michael Viney

MICHAEL VINEY (1933-2023) led a successful career in Irish journalism and television until 1977, when he left behind city life and moved with his wife Ethna and daughter Michele to a one-acre smallholding at Thallabawn, near Louisburgh, on the south-west coast of Mayo.

Ventures in 'alternative' living nourished his growing interest in the natural world. He continued writing and went to become of Ireland's foremost nature writers, with a long-running weekly column, Another Life, in The Irish Times, published with his own illustrations. Among his books have been Ireland in the natural history series of the Smithsonian Institution, and Ireland’s Ocean written with his wife Ethna.

He was elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy and awarded an honorary degree in literature by Trinity College, Dublin.