In shepherding a flock, this farmer and novelist tended to his writing
John Connell: 'The project changed me. It motivated me, and the burnout, or soul tiredness, jut lifted. I had a new purpose in life.' Picture: Eamonn Doyle
A few years ago, John Connell experienced burnout. With three bestselling books under his belt, he tried to start several projects: A film; a documentary, and a fourth book, but nothing was working. And then, one day, when he was out on the family farm, taking it easy, inspiration descended.
“I had this idea about sheep,” he says on Zoom from Co Longford, where he lives with his wife and young son. “I thought it would be nice to get some sheep, and then, I thought, I’d be able to write about that. It all came together.”
