I remember it was April of this year that I first heard about Seán Ronanye, a fellow Cork man who had the audacious plan to record every birdsong in Ireland. And I remember how he described his passion for animals and wildlife, and, I remember thinking there was something very familiar about it. I did then, and still do lack, Seán’s vast knowledge when it comes to the animals and especially birds that live in Ireland, but why did it seem that there something familiar to me about the way he described it all? And, then, Sean stated that he was autistic. Ah, that made sense! I could relate to the way his interests in life took over, there were few if any “casual interests” or hobbies that you only go back to every now and then. Once you were interested in something, it was probably going to be a very intense interest, that gave you great comfort during the bad times, and made the good times even better.
I eagerly awaited the launch of Seán Ronayne’s first book, Nature Boy, so much so that I made myself go to the book launch in Waterstones, Cork, despite the fact that my brain was giving me a bit of trouble that day. I have bad travel anxiety, when it’s really bad it affects me when I’m going even the two miles or so from my house to Waterstones. But my brain would just have to tough it out, because I really wanted to be at the book launch! Luckily it was what was called anticipatory anxiety, an anxiety before an event that dissipates as soon as you’re there, and once I was at the book launch I was fine.
And everyone there had the privilege to get a signed copy of Nature Boy!
It’s not just that Nature Boy is a beautiful account of the natural world that exists in Ireland, though it very much is that. But also, I hope this book will be a call to action for many people. As Irish people, we have been given an amazing gift, an amazing diversity of birdlife, and other animals, and sadly, many of us, especially those in power, are just throwing it away. Indeed, I sometimes anxiously look at what birds are on the green list, which means they’re safe, and what are on the red list, which means they’re in danger of extinction. So I’d look, song thrush, green list, and breathe a sigh of relief because they’re one of my favourites. But then I’d see that the curlew is on the red list. What kind of callous disregard for nature means the iconic curlew is in danger of going extinct?
Nature Boy gives a detailed account of Seán’s life, details you wouldn’t know from his talks, and indeed, he reveals a detail about his life that is actually quite shocking. When he was 18, he returned from a drunken night, feeling really tired and hungover. But, the ailments he was experiencing continued to get worse, until he realized it wasn’t a hangover. He was rushed to hospital, and his parents were told to brace themselves for the fact that their son would die.
The way Seán describes this is so vivid that you feel a tremendous amount of anxiety while reading it, even though ultimately you know you wouldn’t be reading the book in front of you if it didn’t turn out okay. He skillfully puts the anxiety he himself as well as his family felt on the page, so that you feel a lot of that too, and despite knowing that he’d be alright, you feel relief when you read that he has made a full recovery.
Seán was given a meningitis diagnosis in the nick of time, and was able to be given proper treatment, and ultimately his health recovered. But what a terrifying ordeal for anyone to go through. When he thought he would die, one of his greatest feelings of sadness was that he would never be able to go out into nature, to see his favourite birds ever again.
The book goes on to talk about Seán’s meeting of his wife Alba, who gave birth to their first child shortly after the book was released. He really emphasizes how important she was, and is, in helping him in being an advocate for Ireland’s wildlife and especially birdlife, always giving him the encouragement he needed when he had doubts about his ability to be the person he wanted to be, a defender of the natural environment of Ireland.
Seán and Alba spent a bit of time living in other countries around the world, as near as Spain (where Alba is from) and as far away as Nepal, taking the time to explore the wildlife in these countries. This gave Seán an understanding of what Ireland does wrong, many of us, too many us sadly, fail to appreciate the beautiful wildlife in this country. I was particularly fascinated with how Seán talks about a bizarre obsession Ireland has with “tidyness”, while in other countries there may be an appreciation of “messy” environments, which, while they might be “untidy” be human standards, provide a much needed home for animals to build lives for themselves. Indeed, I’ve noticed there’s a “messy” environment near my local supermarket, that by human standards isn’t much use. I think there’s already plans to turn it into a park, but, maybe another idea is to just leave it alone, and let the wildlife just have it? So much has been taken from them already.
One of the most fascinating aspects of the book is how Sean details how migratory birds pick up the “accent” of other birds when they visit other countries. A bird that spends its Summers in Ireland but spends Winter in Africa, will return to Ireland with some of the birdsong of African birds incorporated into its Irish song, like a person spending a few months in another country and picking up some of the lingo. Seán documents how he spent hours listening to recordings of Irish birds and comparing them with the songs of African birds, and establishing that yes, the Irish birds had definitely picked up some of the African lingo during the Winter!
I love how Seán describes his experience as a not yet diagnosed autistic person. He had particular difficulty with eye contact, and while I don’t experience this with the same intensity that another autistic person might, I know the feeling well of when the last thing in the world you want to do is look someone in the eyes. And, since this year I became obsessed with animals and wildlife, I can very well relate to that being the only thing you want to talk about, but you have to understand that other people may not want to talk about these things as often as you do. Indeed, some days it feels like I’m about to “explode”, when I’ve just seen a buzzard, one of my favourite birds, and I haven’t yet encountered anyone who’s interested in talking about buzzards!
But if you’re not interested in wildlife, you will be after you’ve read this book. Some of the things that Sean has seen and experienced will take your breathe away. I don’t think I will ever forget his description of while working in England, and coming home late at night, turning around to see a white barn owl flying, and behind it, the amazing green of the Aurora Borealis. Imagine getting to see two such amazing sights at the same time! And he recounts his encounter with a murmuration, where hundreds of thousands of starlings gather together in a big group in the sky, the sounds and sights he describes here you will never forget. You’ll also never forget something gross about it, that’s a quarter of a million starlings, pooping!
In 2024, I’ve seen Seán Ronanye go from a relatively obscure ornithologist to a celebrity of Irish wildlife. There’s been the Tommy Tiernan interview, the documentary “Birdsong”, and now more recently, “Nature Boy”, winning Biography of the Year at the Irish Book awards, Seán has quickly gone from somebody known only to wildlife experts to someone known to the general public.
But I hope people listen to Seán’s message. I hope people, myself included, don’t just say, “That was a nice story about birds” and then go home. Because, Ireland’s wonderful wildlife is in danger. You can see this for yourself if you go onto Birdwatch Ireland:
Look at this list and try not to have your heart broken by the amount of birds that are on the redlist. Indeed, in May this year I went to a talk by Seán, and learned the Irish Ring Ouzel was functionally extinct. There is just one pair left, so their extinction is inevitable. Even if we were to cease all environmental damage, right now, the Ring Ouzel would still be doomed. Surely something needs to change?
To me two of the celebrities of muddy estuaries are the curlew and the oystercatcher. They are both on the redlist. My brain doesn’t even know how to process the fact that some day, I might be telling someone not yet born, “There were these wonderful birds called curlews and oystercatchers. But now, they’re just gone.”
So that’s why I hope people don’t just take Nature Boy as a wonderful account of an ornithologist’s fascinating life, even though it very much is that. I hope people also read it as a call to action. Places that were once wonderful homes for our native animals are now being replaced by horrible rectangles of trees, that aren’t for animals to live, but are just for cutting down as quickly as possible so that money can be made. This kind of disregard for our natural environment needs to stop now, or we will someday wake up to find that it is gone forever, and we are never getting it back.
Ponderings Of An Autist 
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