TG4 Announces New Series Diving Deep into the Extraordinary Wildlife of Our Celtic Coasts

TG4s landmark natural history series sees naturalist Eoin Warner take viewers on a breath-taking journey of discovery around the spectacular Celtic coasts of Ireland and Wales, exploring the extraordinary hidden wildlife around our shores – from our shallows to the deep.

IONTAIS NA bhFARRAIGÍ CEILTEACHA  was filmed over two years in Ultra High Definition (UHD) by some of the filmmakers behind the natural history series Blue Planet, in a corner of these islands which has never previously been explored in such sumptuous detail – Ireland’s sunny southeast and the Welsh coast.

The camera team has captured an incredible array of species including blue sharks, basking sharks and Fin whales – all swimming and hunting off our Celtic shores.

From Wexford’s Saltee Islands, Eoin observes the guillemots – seabirds that can ‘fly’ underwater, and they also encounter the humble blenny fish getting washed-up – but the blenny can breathe on land!

Some remarkable and exciting new behaviours that have never been filmed in Celtic waters before were captured: such as the courtship rituals of bottle-nosed dolphins as well as astonishing footage of basking sharks congregating off the Irish coast.

Paddy Hayes, the director, comments: “Getting close to nature – especially given recent lockdown events, provides such a great escape for the soul. The Iontais na bhFarraigí Ceilteacha team captured some really breath-taking footage of our undiscovered coasts and some eye-opening behaviour of our best-known marine animals’ – and it is such a joy to know that all this occurs just off our shores.”

The 3 episodes of Iontais na bhFarraigí Ceilteacha are divided into 3 habitats – the shores, the shallows and the deep. The first episode, the Shores, sees presenter Eoin Warner explore the marine animals that inhabit the coastlines of Ireland and Wales who need to adapt to this rapidly changing environment.

Eoin goes kayaking off Waterford’s copper coast and he encounters curious Atlantic grey seals pirouetting around him. A camera team follow the seals through a whole year, from their courtship to pregnancy and to the birth of a gorgeous white pup. They also follow a pair of guillemots, bringing up their single youngster on a narrow rocky shelf.

The first episode is set to air on Wednesday, January 12th at 9:30pm on TG4. The trailer can be found here.