As a child in the 1990s Monica Connell lived in a village in Donegal with her mother and academic father. In the 2000s, by now an anthropologist and author, she returned with her husband. Gathering Carrageen is the story of that return: the harsh beauty of the landscape and elements, the sense of fun and community in the face of tensions between tradition and modernity. Peopled by wonderful characters, a lobster fisherman, a sheep farmer, a trawler worker, and an old woman who practices the ancient skill of gathering carrageen, she describes the complex weave of relationships and the adventure of learning their skills.