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Turtle Bunbury

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Irish author, historian, and television presenter

Turtle Bunbury
Turtle Bunbury
BornJames Alexander Hugh McClintock Bunbury
(1972-02-21) 21 February 1972 (age 52)
Ireland
EducationGlenalmond College, Scotland; Trinity College, Dublin; University of Groningen, Netherlands
Occupation(s)Author, historian, television presenter
Known forVanishing Ireland
SpouseAlly Bunbury
ParentBaron Rathdonnell (father)

James Alexander Hugh McClintock Bunbury (born 21 February 1972), known as Turtle Bunbury, is an Irish author, historian, and television presenter. He has published a number of books such as the Vanishing Ireland series, Ireland's Forgotten Past, Easter Dawn -The 1916 Rising, The Glorious Madness (short-listed for Best Irish-published Book of the Year 2014) and 1847 – A Chronicle of Genius, Generosity & Savagery.

Career

Bunbury is the third son of Thomas McClintock-Bunbury, 5th Baron Rathdonnell and Jessica Harriet, daughter of George Gilbert Butler, of Scatorish, Bennettsbridge, County Kilkenny (brother of the essayist Hubert Butler). He was raised at Lisnavagh House, Rathvilly, County Carlow and received his early education locally and at Castle Park School in Dublin. He later studied at Glenalmond College, Perthshire, Scotland, before going on to Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

From 1996 to 1998 he lived in Hong Kong, working as a freelance correspondent with the South China Morning Post and Business News Indochina.

Bunbury was a co-presenter of The Genealogy Roadshow on RTÉ television in 2011 and 2014. He also presented Hidden Histories on Newstalk Radio in 2013. He co-wrote the 2008 documentary John Henry Foley: Sculptor of the Empire. He has also appeared on BBC1's Wogan's Ireland, the RTÉ series, Great Lighthouses of Ireland, and episodes of the American version and Irish version of the Who Do You Think You Are? TV series.

BBC History Magazine described him as "a skilled storyteller", and novelist Marjorie Quarton described Bunbury as being "one of the most versatile authors of his generation … a serious author with a light touch in writing".

His work has appeared in National Geographic Traveler, Daily Beast, The Australian, The Guardian and the Irish Times.

In 2019, Bunbury began a collaboration with Iarnród Éireann and Flahavan's for a project called ‘Past Tracks,’ an exhibition of historic panels that went on semi-permanent display in several railway stations around Ireland.

Bunbury has also written and performed in a series of podcasts covering topics from his books, and various aspects of history and culture. Examples include Waterways Through Time, commissioned by Waterways Ireland, which won the Bronze medal for best podcast at the 2023 Digital Media Awards in Ireland, and Behind the Guinness Gates, commissioned by the Guinness Storehouse.

Turtle Bunbury is married to the novelist Ally Bunbury with whom he lives in County Carlow.

Vanishing Ireland

In 2001 Bunbury began work on the Vanishing Ireland project with photographer James Fennell. The project produced four books, and a review in the Irish Independent of the first book noted how it was "written with sympathy, understanding and gentle humour". Three of the books were short-listed for Best Irish-Published Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards.

Works

  • The Landed Gentry & Aristocracy of Co. Kildare (Irish Family Names, 2004) ISBN 0953848531
  • The Landed Gentry & Aristocracy of Co. Wicklow (Irish Family Names, 2005) ISBN 0953848574
  • Living in Sri Lanka (Thames & Hudson, 2006), with James Fennell. ISBN 0500512876
  • Vanishing Ireland (Hodder Headline, 2006), with James Fennell. ISBN 034092277X
  • The Irish Pub (Thames & Hudson, 2008) with James Fennell. ISBN 0500514283
  • Dublin Docklands – An Urban Voyage (Montague, 2009). ISBN 0955815517
  • Vanishing Ireland 2 (Hodder Headline, 2009), with James Fennell. ISBN 0340920270
  • Sporting Legends of Ireland (Mainstream, 2010) with James Fennell. ISBN 1845965027
  • Vanishing Ireland 3 (Hachette, 2011), with James Fennell. ISBN 1444733052
  • Dublin from the Etihad Skyline (GAA Museum, 2012), ISBN 978-0957280502.
  • Vanishing Ireland 4 (Hachette, 2013), with James Fennell. ISBN 1444733060
  • The Glorious Madness – Tales of the Irish & the Great War (Gill & Macmillan, 2014) ISBN 978-07171-6234-5
  • Easter Dawn – The 1916 Rising (Mercier Press, 2015). ISBN 978-1781-172582
  • 1847 – A Chronicle of Genius, Generosity & Savagery (Gill, 2016). ISBN 9780717168347
  • Adare Manor : The Renaissance of an Irish Country House (Adare Manor Publishing, 2019) ISBN 9781527246706
  • Ireland's Forgotten Past (Thames & Hudson, 2020) ISBN 9780500022535
  • The Irish Diaspora: Tales of Emigration, Exile and Imperialism (Thames & Hudson, 2021) ISBN 9780500022528
  • The Centenary of Naas Racecourse (Turtle Bunbury Histories, 2023) ISBN 9781399968263

References

  1. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, vol. 3, p. 3279
  2. Ronan McGreevy. "Easter Rising books reviewed". The Irish Times. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  3. Keith Jeffrey. "In praise of the fighting – and dying – Irish". The Irish Times. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  4. Frances O'Rourke. "First Encounters: Turtle Bunbury and Hugo Jellett". The Irish Times. Retrieved 6 December 2014.
  5. Emily Hourican (3 November 2014). "Awards show energy of Irish writing". Irish Independent. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  6. "Turtle Bunbury: 'The only place I can achieve peace is in the bath'". The Irish Times. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
  7. Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, vol. 1, p. 1214, and vol. 3, p. 3279
  8. ^ "My Favourite Room". Sunday Independent. 15 December 2013 – via pressreader.com.
  9. Andrea Smith (3 April 2017). "'Turtle wasn't slow when it came to love'". Sunday Independent.
  10. Catherine Heaney, ed. (2016). Trinity Tales: Trinity College Dublin in the Nineties. Lilliput Press. p. 119. ISBN 9781843516798. "I subsequently spent a year at Groningen University...", Turtle Bunbury, 'Juris Erratum – Running from the Law,'
  11. Hugh Oram (2016). Charmers and Chancers, Trafford Publishing. Trafford. ISBN 9781490777016.
  12. Trinity Today, Autumn 2016 (Ashville Media Group), p. 76.
  13. "Turtle Bunbury Podcasts". Hidden Histories. Newstalk Radio.
  14. "Turtle Bunbury". IMDb (Internet Movie Database).
  15. Terry Wogan (2012). Wogan's Ireland: A Tour Around the Country that Made the Man. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781471115004.
  16. Great Lighthouse of Ireland and RTE's Great Lighthouses of Ireland Returns for a Second Series in Early May
  17. "Mandy Moore traces her Irish roots to Co Tipperary". IrishCentral.com. 7 December 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  18. BBC History Magazine, 16 April 2020
  19. Marjorie Quarton (2017). "Review – '1847: A Chronicle of Genius, Generosity and Savagery' by Turtle Bunbury". Books Ireland. January/February 2017 (371). Wordwell Ltd: 34–35. JSTOR 90014347.
  20. "Irish Manor Houses – National Geographic Traveler". Travel. 20 February 2014. Archived from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  21. Bunbury, Turtle (24 September 2017). "The Amazing Story of Little Al Cashier, a Transgender Civil War Hero". Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  22. Turtle, Bunbury (27 February 2010). "The Real Craggy Island". The Australian.
  23. Bunbury, Turtle (16 March 2015). "Beyond the blarney: the best hidden gems in Ireland". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  24. Bunbury, Turtle. "A beautiful friendship – General Tom Thumb and PT Barnum". The Irish Times. Retrieved 19 June 2019.
  25. ‘Passengers get Fast Track to town's past’, The Argus, 19 October 2019; ‘Looking at Sligo history while waiting on the train’, The Sligo Champion, 19 October 2019
  26. ‘Waterways Through Time’ Podcast Wins at Digital Media Awards
  27. Behind the Guinness Gates
  28. Ann Dunne (27 May 2018). "Romance, a mother's wrath and a dilapidated mansion – Infidelity by Ally Bunbury". Irish Independent.
  29. Regina Lavelle (29 January 2017). "Are you ready to rid your life of a toxic friendship?". Irish Independent.
  30. "'Vanishing Ireland' documents the recent past in Ireland that seems a world away". Irish Central. 14 July 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  31. Charles Lysaght (8 April 2007). "Temp Head". Irish Independent.
  32. "Irish Book Awards shortlist announced". The Irish Times. 1 November 2013.
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