Wildlife in the Plain of the Yew Tree

Wildlife Photographer Shay Doran has travelled the world, exploring great forests and vast wildernesses across the globe. Yet upon returning home, he saw Ireland with new eyes. From that renewed perspective comes his book “Wildlife in the Plain of the Yew Tree”, an enchanting and authentic portrait of Mayo’s scarce and elusive wildlife.

This stunning photographic composition showcases rarely seen wildlife that surrounds lakes and the untamed landscapes of river, forest, and mountain. Captured exclusively in the wild over five years, the images present Ireland’s native species as they truly live, foraging, hunting and surviving.

When asked why I photograph wildlife, isn’t it so difficult? Shay responds: Nature speaks to me, whether in the mimicking call of the Jay, the night screeching of the Owl and Fox, the bellow of the Deer when I draw too close, rising before sunrise to hear the note of the concertmaster signaling the oboe as the concert begins, the echoing call of the Golden Plover across the meadows to the Snipe, then the love song of a pair of Robins to the melodius and loud Blackbird, the dawn chorus, the stoat weaving his way through crevices in ancient walls, the Kestrel begins his morning hunt, the deers retreats to the safety of the woods, the badger to his bed, the day has begun and tomorrow morning will be the same.