Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
John Moriarty has been living a life of solitude for the last 17 years near Roundstone in Connemara.
What is it like to live without newspapers, radio or television, in austerity and isolation, in an attempt to find ultimate meaning?
John Moriarty explains why he has opted for a life of austerity and rural solitude. He left academia having taught the History of European Ideas at the University of Manitoba in Canada, for a life in the company of just his dog and the nature around him.
Making an analogy between European culture and his pot-bound rhododendrons, he comments that there is,
A sense that European culture was itself pot-bound. That it was self-exhaustive, that it was up against the plastic, and the plastic and the concrete of its own growing.
The RTÉ Guide also featured John Moriarty leaving behind the world of academia for a life of solitude and contemplation on the land.
John Moriarty was born in Moyvane, North Kerry in 1938. He was the author of eight books, including 'Dreamtime' (1994). He also presented 'The Blackbird and The Bell', a series of late-night discussions with musicians, poets and writers, on RTÉ Television in 1997.
This edition of 'Here and Now' was broadcast on 29 May 1990.
The reporter is Gemma McCrohan.
John Moriarty has been living a life of solitude for the last 17 years near Roundstone in Connemara.
What is it like to live without newspapers, radio or television, in austerity and isolation, in an attempt to find ultimate meaning?
John Moriarty explains why he has opted for a life of austerity and rural solitude. He left academia having taught the History of European Ideas at the University of Manitoba in Canada, for a life in the company of just his dog and the nature around him.
Making an analogy between European culture and his pot-bound rhododendrons, he comments that there is,
A sense that European culture was itself pot-bound. That it was self-exhaustive, that it was up against the plastic, and the plastic and the concrete of its own growing.
The RTÉ Guide also featured John Moriarty leaving behind the world of academia for a life of solitude and contemplation on the land.
John Moriarty was born in Moyvane, North Kerry in 1938. He was the author of eight books, including 'Dreamtime' (1994). He also presented 'The Blackbird and The Bell', a series of late-night discussions with musicians, poets and writers, on RTÉ Television in 1997.
This edition of 'Here and Now' was broadcast on 29 May 1990.
The reporter is Gemma McCrohan.
