Bailte - All Seasons

The award-winning series ‘Bailte' returns this September for its 4th season with Síle Nic Chonaonaigh continuing her journey through the townlands of Ireland. There are over 60,000 townlands in Ireland and they remain one of the pillars of modern Irish life. On this journey, Síle explores the resilience of our rural communities and reveals the deep connection people have with their townland and how local landscapes and traditions remain a constant influence on our daily lives.  

The series is a celebration of the hard-working and vibrant communities who are doing their very best to ensure their own community is more than just a mere layby and a pretty stop-off along the Wild Atlantic Way. With rural Ireland as a spectacular backdrop, ‘Bailte' provides a distinctive and honest portrayal of life in Ireland today.

We visit a different townland and its respective community each week to learn what life is like there. Some of the townlands Síle visits have larger populations than others, one of which only having one family. As well as the many advantages of living in rural townlands, the series also shares the difficulties of living in remote areas, such as rural depopulation, a lack of basic services, unemployment and the uncertain futures of both the farming and fishing industries.

Among the townlands visited in this series are Leitir Ard and An Bóthar Buí in Galway, Tóraigh in Co. Donegal, Baile na nGall in Waterford, and Clochán Bréanainn on the Dingle Peninsula.