It is innate in human to fantasize about past being better. That is why nostalgia is no longer a disease.
Back then, life along the Shannon, with plentiful supplies of fish, berries, elk, roots, fowl, deer, nuts, grubs and other goodies must have been quite pleasant. Even today on the marginal lands where some hunter-gatherers continue to live, life has been described by anthropologists as “leisurely”. Apparently it is common to sit in the shade beneath a tree listening to, or telling, some saga of adventure and only stirring oneself when conditions for hunting are optimal, in short an excellent work-life balance.
Needull in a haystack 