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The Pathless Land
- Author
- Tim Hannigan
- Narrator
- Stephen Perring
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Publish Date
- 3 September 2026
- Run Time
- 10 hours 17 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
- Genre
- Travel writing, Local history
What to expect
An epic journey on foot from Dingle to Burr Point in search of Ireland’s lost footpaths, and a quest to unravel the complexities of countryside access in Ireland and Britain.
Ireland is a pathless land. Public access to the Irish countryside is more limited than almost anywhere else in Europe – no right to roam, no network of footpaths across the landscape and minimal legal protection for existing rights of way. When Tim Hannigan discovers a forgotten web of paths recorded on an old map of Ireland, he sets out on an epic journey to find out how the country lost its ways.
As well as an evocative travelogue and a fascinating exploration of the turbulent history of the land in Ireland, The Pathless Land also offers an important new perspective on contemporary debates about extending the “right to roam” in neighbouring Britain, and asks vital but neglected questions about the most practical mechanisms for public access in heavily agricultural landscapes.
This is also a deeply personal journey for the author. Born in Cornwall but living and raising a family in County Galway, he must confront awkward questions about landscape and identity, and about the connections between walking and belonging, as he struggles to find his way across a pathless land.
Critics Review
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In The Pathless Land, Hannigan brings luminosity, clarity and rich research to tell an evocative and fascinating story of land and access in Ireland. Hannigan is a perfect traveller on foot - curious, empathetic and questioning. I couldn't recommend The Pathless Land more.
Jack Cornish
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To walk is to know… Hannigan engages in deep and beguiling conversation with the Irish landscape. He, and the reader, emerge richer and wiser for the experience.
Max Adams
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With every footsore step, Hannigan brings Ireland’s troubled past hauntingly alive.
Ian Crofton
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A brilliant travelogue, balancing observation and history, The Pathless Land has ingenious structure and a humane mission: the author, realising that Ireland has few public footways, sets off to experience walking across a land that often wants to make his journey difficult. It is a finely written account, with keen insights on every page, all the keener for being gathered on the eye level and pace of a walker. In parallel, the book also delivers a history of Ireland’s relationship to the land, a story that is perhaps the best way to understand the country and its people.
Garrett Carr
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A brilliant read, full of history, local curiosity and characters ... [Hannigan is] here long enough to know us well, but he’s also detached enough to look at Ireland and our ideas about the land with a dispassionate eye. It's a really, really good read.
RTÉ CountryWide
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Hugely enjoyable ... An engaging and insightful book that blends vivid travel writing and meticulous research with a clear-eyed exploration of the knotty intersection of history, landscape and identity.
Geographical
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Praise for Tim Hannigan:
Absorbing and insightful... skilfully interweaves geography, geology, travel memoir and history.The TLS
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The best kind of traveller, Hannigan is brimful of boundless curiosity... a beguiling book that throbs with passion.
The Irish Times
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A magnificent work of travel and historical deconstruction – deeply personal, meticulously researched and hugely enjoyable.
Philip Marsden
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Details
- Author
- Tim Hannigan
- Narrator
- Stephen Perring
- Duration
- 10 hours 17 minutes
- Release Date
- 3 September 2026
- ISBN
- 9781035928736
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Bloomsbury Publishing
- Genre
- Travel writing, Local history
Synopsis
Bloomsbury presents The Pathless Land: Finding a Way Across Ireland by Tim Hannigan, read by Stephen PerringAn epic journey on foot from Dingle to Burr Point in search of Ireland’s lost footpaths, and a quest to unravel the complexities of countryside access in Ireland and Britain. Ireland is a pathless land. Public access to the Irish countryside is more limited than almost anywhere else in Europe – no right to roam, no network of footpaths across the landscape and minimal legal protection for existing rights of way. When Tim Hannigan discovers a forgotten web of paths recorded on an old map of Ireland, he sets out on an epic journey to find out how the country lost its ways. As well as an evocative travelogue and a fascinating exploration of the turbulent history of the land in Ireland, The Pathless Land also offers an important new perspective on contemporary debates about extending the “right to roam” in neighbouring Britain, and asks vital but neglected questions about the most practical mechanisms for public access in heavily agricultural landscapes. This is also a deeply personal journey for the author. Born in Cornwall but living and raising a family in County Galway, he must confront awkward questions about landscape and identity, and about the connections between walking and belonging, as he struggles to find his way across a pathless land.
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