book
The Evolution of Ireland
is a multimedia project centred on a forthcoming book by Stephen Daly
It charts the evolution of Ireland's land, life, and people from their origins in the deep past right up to the present day, as well as exploring what Ireland might be like in the near and distant future.
Click on the icons below for more.
blog
The Evolution of Ireland blog began in 2014 and currently amounts to over 50 blogs on Ireland's land, life, and people.
These blogs cover everything from the creation of the island itself and spectacular features of its landscape like the Giant's Causeway, to its modern and ancient animals, including dinosaurs, ancient sea dragons, and Ice Age stars like the woolly mammoth, spotted hyena, and giant Irish deer.
The evolution and nature of Ireland's people is also explored, including a look at how humans evolved to walk on two feet, how Neanderthals became ancestors of the Irish, and the origins of some Irish surnames.
Click on the icon below to read these blogs.
help
Throughout my work on The Evolution of Ireland Project, I have been very fortunate to receive a great deal of help.
This help has come from family, friends, strangers, academics, artists, and many more. If you would also like to contribute to the completion of this book, you could help by simply spreading the word about it, including by sharing this website using the social media buttons below.
If you would like to go further and make a financial contribution in return for a range of rewards, including access to a monthly newsletter (MiniMag), a copy of the book upon publication, etc., please press the 'Help' button below.
mag
The Evolution of Ireland MiniMag is a quarterly newsletter, or mini-magazine, bursting with fascinating information, from book previews to the latest scientific discoveries.
The MiniMag has been running since 2019 and has so far covered an incredibly wide range of topics, from the evolution of dinosaurs to dogs, Neanderthals to Newgrange, and Ireland's ancient primates to its first people. And that is not to mention sabretooths, the giant's causeway, and Ireland's Egyptian mummies.
To read selected issues of the MiniMag, click the left icon, or to subscribe, click the right one.
gram
Dip your toes into the wild waters of The Evolution of Ireland by visiting the project's Instagram and Twitter accounts.
Read about giant birds, woolly mammoths, giant Irish deer, spotted hyenas, blue whales, future supercontinents, the evolution of Ireland's humans, and Ireland's links with everything from marsupials to Santa Claus.
Click the icons below to follow my accounts @sdalywriter.
trip
In 2014, I completed a 1,200-kilometre trip around Ireland by foot and bicycle as part of a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for The Evolution of Ireland Project.
This, the Dublin to Derry Walkabout, consisted of me walking from Dublin to south Tipperary, then cycling to Cork, and from there all the way to Malin Head in Donegal before finishing in Derry.
Along the way, I visited many sites of cultural, historical, archaeological, geological, and evolutionary interest, meeting many people and taking many photos.
This trip was documented in a series of Facebook posts. Many of these were actually written by my multi-talented brother Tom from information I supplied him with, while he also created a fantastic Walkabout Guide on the many locations I was to visit before I set out. Click on these links to learn more about the Dublin to Derry Walkabout.
biog
I have academic qualifications in archaeology and history, and previously worked on a number of archaeological projects in Ireland.
I began work on The Evolution of Ireland Project in 2009, and it has been a rollercoaster ride of amazing discoveries from the very beginning, allowing me to see Ireland and the rest of the world in an entirely new light.
This project has allowed me to pursue and combine many of my interests, from my lifelong fascination with all aspects of the past, especially biological and human evolution, to my love for travel and graphic design.
It has also allowed me to interact with a great variety of people with wildly different backgrounds, knowledge, and points of view, and this alone has been very interesting, rewarding, and, at times, downright entertaining.