New book explores Ireland's status as an island

RIA member asks why it matters

The Royal Irish Academy (RIA) has published 'Ireland: Why it matters to be an island', a new book by member, Michael Cronin, 1776 Professor of French at Trinity College Dublin and Senior Researcher in the Trinity Centre for Literary and Cultural Translation.

Cronin explores the significance of Ireland’s island geography and asks what it means for the country’s history, identity and future.

For centuries, questions of sovereignty and independence on the island of Ireland have centred on land, territory and political control. In this latest publication, Cronin asks what happens when we look beyond the land and consider Ireland instead as an island and an ocean people.

Against the backdrop of the climate emergency, Cronin explores the need for a heightened awareness of Ireland’s island status and the environmental integrity of our shared island home. Drawing on personal reflection alongside cultural and environmental analysis, the book considers how a different understanding of island life might reshape ideas of community, responsibility and Ireland’s place in the world.

Cronin says: "Being an island has profoundly shaped Ireland’s history, culture and sense of itself, yet we rarely stop to consider what our island status means today. At a time of climate emergency, we need to think beyond the land beneath our feet and recognise Ireland as an island and the Irish as an ocean people. I hope this book encourages readers to think differently about our relationship with the sea, with our shared environment and with island communities elsewhere in the world.'

The book was formally launched by Alex White, chair of the Climate Change Advisory Council.

Ruth Hegarty, managing editor of the RIA Publishing House says: "We are delighted to publish Michael Cronin’s Ireland: Why it Matters to Be an Island, a timely and thought-provoking book that asks us to reconsider something that can seem self-evident: Ireland’s status as an island. Michael brings together questions of place, identity, history and the climate emergency in a way that speaks to some of the most pressing challenges facing Ireland today.’

Ireland: Why it Matters to Be an Island is available to purchase from the RIA website in paperback and eBook formats.

Cronin's recent books include Eco-Translation: Translation and Ecology in the Age of the Anthropocene (Routledge, 2017), Irish and Ecology: An Ghaeilge agus an Éiceolaíocht (FÁS, 2019) and Eco-Travel: Journeying in the Age of the Anthropocene (Cambridge University Press, 2022). He is a Member of the Royal Irish Academy and Academia Europaea, an Officier in the Ordre des Palmes Académiques and a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin.

The Royal Irish Academy established in 1785, serves as an all-island learned society, recognising academic achievement and contributing expertise to enhance the public good.