The journalist and author on money, what he learned growing up on a farm and why his best investment ever was 12 sheep John Connell credits his farm upbringing for his work ethic. Photo: Frank McGrath Farmer and author John Connell pictured feeding a lamb on his farm near Ballinalee, Co Longford.Picture Credit:Frank McGrath John Connell is an author, farmer, journalist, scriptwriter and the co-director of the Granard Booktown Festival.
He worked in Australia as an investigative journalist and documentary maker covering everything from the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War to Indigenous Australian human rights before moving home to Co Longford. His No.1 bestselling memoir, The Cow Book , was published in March 2018, with The Running Book and The Stream Of Everything completing his Longford trilogy.
Connell’s latest book, Twelve Sheep: Life Lessons From A Lambing Season , was published in April. The 37-year-old is married to Vivian and they have a son, Ted, aged 15 months. My mam and dad were both entrepreneurs.
My mother has a Montessori school and daycare centre beside the farm. Before he retired, my father ran his own construction business. They both farmed, as well.
I always had a do-it-yourself attitude and an entrepreneurial streak whether it was the production company I set up in Australia to make TV programmes or setting up the book festival with my friend Ronan O’Toole. Growing up on the farm, we were taught how to work, whether it was cleaning out sheds or going .
