Appetite For Distraction

Memories of a rural childhood come flooding back on discovery of a curated Twitter account called Ireland’s Farmers

The Butler family and their organic egg farm in Carlow feature on the Ireland’s Farmers twitter account Pic: Rara Photography

I tell a story about how I and a childhood friend would put sticks in our socks to safeguard ourselves against badger attacks. It’s often met with ridicule, usually from townies who don’t know the savage ways of the Irish countryside badger, but I remember the ritual clear as day.

We were nine or maybe ten and playing in the vast sand and gravel pits that formed a good chunk of our countryside ...