Corkman John Creedon embarks on a new tour of Irish past in TV series

IF you’re looking for a fella to put Ireland on the map, you won’t go far wrong with John Creedon.

The amiable Corkman has an insatiable curiosity for our place names and his recent book, That Place We Call Home: A Journey Through The Place Names Of Ireland, allowed him to explore his passions,

Now he is back in a new series of Creedon’s Atlas Of Ireland on RTÉ1 on Sunday, August 21, at 6.30pm.

It finds John as passionate as ever about uncovering the true meaning of Irish place names, and he bumps into a variety of people on his tour, including Emmett Kirwan, Hugh Wallace, and Pat Shortt (pictured with Creedon on the cover of TV Week).

In the first episode, John travels across Ireland, from Tallaght to Tipperary, and Waterford to the Beara Peninsula, and he starts his journey pondering why the word ‘bard’ appears in so many place names right across the country.

He sets off on a mission to find out how Ireland’s bards originally told the story of Ireland and he is hopeful their version of the story still exists today.

Creedon heads to Tallaght in County Dublin where he meets actor and Tallaght native Emmet Kirwan. They discuss the meaning of the name Tallaght and how it inspired Emmet’s latest work, which is a radio play about an ancient Bard by the name of Tuan.

Pádraig Ó Macháin, Professor of Modern Irish at University College Cork, tells John how the early Christian Church ensured the narrative of Irish history was written down for the first time through the eyes of Christianity in Monasteries like St Maelruan’s in Tallaght.

In Bruree, County Limerick, Dr Emma Nic Carthaigh takes John back in time to reveal some startling insights into the life and status of the bards or ‘Filí’ in Irish society.

John then meets his old friend Pat Shortt, born in Tipperary, who once had a pub in Castlemartyr, to find out how New Birmingham in County Tipperary inspired D’Unbelievables. He also investigates the legacy of the coalmining industry in rural Tipperary.

Creedon meets up with TV architect Hugh Wallace and investigates Portlaw in County Waterford, a purpose built town with an incredible story to tell.

And John heads to the land of his mother’s people, The Beara Penninsula, to learn about An Cailleach an ancient Irish Goddess, and he is delighted to discover her power still present in the women of Beara.