Tim Hannigan: The Pathless Land

Time and date

Friday 17 July 2026

10:00 am

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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 on foot from Dingle, County Kerry to Burr Point , County Down, to find out how the country lost its ways. The Pathless Land is the result of Tim’s incredible quest to unravel the complexities of countryside access in Ireland and Britain.  

Join us for this morning's Coffee and Chat in the magnificent setting of Bantry House and Gardens. A complimentary coffee and scone are included in the ticket price

Admission: €13 Coffee & Chat

The Pathless Land offers an important new perspective on contemporary debates about extending the ‘right to roam’ in Britain, and asks important but neglected questions about the most practical mechanisms for public access to the heavily agricultural British and Irish landscapes. This is also a deeply personal journey for the author, Tim Hannigan. Born in Britain, but of Irish ancestry and living in County Galway, there are awkward questions about landscape and identity, and about the connections between walking and belonging, to be answered as he struggles to find his way across a pathless land. 

 

Our Coffee & Chat series is presented in association with Bantry House

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Writer

Tim Hannigan 

Tim Hannigan is an experienced travel and history writer. He began his professional writing career as a travel journalist and guidebook writer in Southeast Asia, before publishing his first full-length narrative...

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