Ireland

The story of Ireland's natural history is one of dramatic change in a very short time, of a world transformed again and again by nature and the hand of man. The island has been sheathed in ice, sculpted by retreating glaciers, covered in vast forests of oak, reshaped by human history. Today, the Emerald Isle is graced with a host of plants and animals that thrive in one of the most varied landscapes in Europe. Rare native flowers and plants, colonies of sea birds, dolphins and peregrine falcons, and the legendary racehorses of the Irish National Stud are featured in the film as the story of the land is told at Galway Bay, the Mountains of Mourne, the wild boglands of County Mayo, the islands off the coast of County Kerry, and the water meadows along the River Shannon. From ice and stone to fields of green, Ireland’s timeless beauty has survived the ages. But what is old to us is still young to the land, and its story is still unfolding.