The Cow Book

The intimate account of a year on an Irish farm - and a keyhole history of man's relationship with the cow.

Farming has been in John Connell's family for generations, but he never intended to follow in his father's footsteps. Until, one winter, he finds himself back on the farm and begins to learn the ways of the farmer and the way of the cows.

Connell records the hypnotic rhythm of the farming day - cleaning the outhouses, milking the herd, tending to sickly lambs, helping the cows give birth. But alongside the routine events, there are the unforeseen moments when things go wrong: when a calf fails to thrive, when a sheep goes missing, when illness breaks out, when depression takes hold, when an argument erupts and things are said that cannot be unsaid.

The Cow Book is the story of a calving season. It is also the story of the cow itself, from its domestication and worship as a God by the Ancient Egyptians to the modern practice of mechanized herds, via the figure of the cowboy, the destruction of the American buffalo, the demise of the aboriginal jackaroos and the consequences of BSE. And, above all, it is the story of Connell's life as a farmer, of his relationship with his birthplace of County Longford, with the community around the family farm, with the animals he tends, and with his father.

About the Author

John Connell was published in Granta's New Irish Writing issue, and has also had a story published on Granta.com. He lives on his family farm, Birchview, in County Longford. Connell studied journalism in Dublin and Sydney and went on to become a new media and storytelling lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney at 22. His investigative work at the time led to his becoming an Honorary Research Fellow with the Australian Centre for Investigative Journalism and multiple awards including two Walkley wins in the radio field. He was a producer with ABC Radio National as well as SBS.

His novel The Ghost Estate was published by Picador in March 2015.