New film takes a walk on the wild side in West Cork

On the Beara Peninsula in West Cork, a thriving temperate rainforest stands as the result of Eoghan Daltun’s life’s work.

After moving from Dublin with his family in 2009, he set out to rewild the 73-acre farm he had purchased, transforming it into a flourishing native ecosystem.

In 2022, Daltun published An Irish Atlantic Rainforest: A Personal Journey Into The Magic Of Rewilding, charting the journey from discovering the land near Eyeries on the Beara Peninsula to working with nature to restore it to its natural state.

Documentarian Gary Lennon has adapted the book for his latest film, An Irish Atlantic Rainforest. He says he read the book in one sitting and was immediately inspired by Daltun’s words.

“I thought it was really honest,” recalls Lennon . “Eoghan spoke very openly about his background. He comes from a modest background, and it tells the story of how he got to where he is today.

“I found it so inspiring to see the actions of one person who comes from, and I say this with absolutely no disrespect, a modest background. He isn’t one of these guys who just inherited an estate and turned it into something.

“There are quite a few people doing this kind of work in the UK, but they tend to be landed gentry. Eoghan did this by himself; he didn’t have an inheritance backing him.”

Lennon says Daltun’s approach also made the book interesting, and convinced him it would work well as a documentary.

“As a film-maker interested in the environment, I found that audiences get switched off very quickly, and that’s counterproductive. I wanted to make something that would talk about the environmental and biodiversity crises we’re facing, but to do so in a way that inspires an audience rather than getting them to turn off.

“Instead, they might think about the world a little differently and feel that this is something they can work on themselves.”

Lennon worked closely with Daltun while adapting the book and says he made sure to follow the path laid out in it.

“The skill set for making films and writing books is obviously different, but I did follow the spirit of his book.

“If you want to break it down into two stories, Story A is the rainforest and Story B is Eoghan’s story. He interweaves those two stories in the book, and that’s essentially what I did in the film.”

The director says the most important thing to get right with a documentary is earning the trust of your subject.

“As a filmmaker, you must earn trust. I live in Dublin, so it’s quite a schlep to get to West Cork. I would go down for three or four days at a time.

“We ended up filming for more than 46 days in the rainforest. At first, it was about spending time with Eoghan so that he could see I was acting with good intentions.”

Lennon says it is essential to capture nature rather than simply talk about it, and dedicated many hours to filming the flora and fauna of Beara’s rainforest.

“When you’re trying to capture the natural world, you have to show it, you can’t just tell people. You can’t have Eoghan standing in front of a tree saying how the winter leaves fall down. You have to be there in winter to capture the leaves falling.

“There was a scene where we captured the pine marten. That was days of filming at night from a hide, waiting for the pine marten. It was such a buzz when we finally got to see one.”

Lennon went to great lengths to ensure that the documentary wasn’t solely focused on negative messages about the environment. It was important that audiences understood Daltun’s work and the positive impact it can have.

“It was about immersing the audience in what a rainforest is. The whole of the west coast of Ireland, and much of the island, used to be rainforest. It was about showing that this is how Ireland can look if we choose to do so, if government policy decides to change. That’s why Eoghan did it. As he said, we’re facing a crisis, but if we decide to change, we can have a positive impact. That’s why he decided to put his head above the parapet, and I deeply respect him for doing that.”

Lennon says working in the rainforest has a profound physical impact on him.

“Every time I went down, it transported me to an entirely different physiological level. My heartbeat completely slowed down. Every day at lunchtime, I’d fall asleep under the trees. Nature has such a wonderful ability to impact your health in a really positive way. Whether it was wind, rain, sleet or sun, it was such a joy to be filming in the rainforest.”

Lennon has worked in Cork before, when he made A Doctor’s Sword, which told the remarkable story of Dr Aidan MacCarthy’s experiences during World War II. Lennon says West Cork is a unique place that draws filmmakers.

“The personality of the people is just a little bit different from the rest of Ireland. There’s both a confidence and an ability to do things that perhaps other parts of the country don’t have. As a location, it’s arguably one of the most beautiful places in the world. From a visual perspective, that really helps a filmmaker, and it’s just a place I have a real love for.”

An Irish Atlantic Rainforest releases in cinemas on July 24.