John Connell: ‘I visited Sydney recently and prices are on a par with LA – a takeaway sandwich cost me €14’

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.​

How did your upbringing shape your relationship with money? 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 to the mart. There were times when I worked on building sites. It made me appreciate that you have to do a day's work.

​Was there ever a time when you felt broke? When I was trying to write The Cow Book. I'd given myself three months to go home and write a book and it turned into a year. I was 29 and said I didn't want to go to my grave regretting not taking a chance.

As Patrick Kavanagh said: "I dabbled in verse and it became my life."

I was living at home and working on the farm. It was tough. Ultimately, it worked out and The Cow Book sold well and set me up for the next chapter of my life.

Viv and I were boyfriend and girlfriend at the time and we did long distance. She's now my wife and here six years and is becoming an Irish citizen. You could say I took a risk romantically and financially.​

What is your biggest extravagance? Books. I have bit of an addiction to them and seem to buy them all the time. I say to myself it's all research and all part of the business I'm in. I have a bit of a weakness for fashion as well.​

What's the most expensive place you've ever been to? I went back to Sydney recently with my wife and son and found it had got to be very expensive. I'm usually in Los Angeles once a year for script work and Sydney is now on a par with LA. I had a takeaway sandwich that was over A$22 (€13.65).​

Would you buy Irish property now? We bought our house in Longford a couple of years ago. One of the upsides of Covid and remote work was that it gave people the option to stay where they're from in rural Ireland.​

What was your best ever investment? The 12 sheep I bought to write the book. They've paid for themselves already. They not only gave me the inspiration to write but also got me out of burnout and gave me a new lease of life.

We only got into sheep seven years ago because it's a beef farm. They're a lovely animal and they're a good little investment as they're not as costly as a cow.​

Which three things would you not be able to do without if you had to tighten your belt? The coffee I get from Vu Coffee Roasters, run by a Vietnamese-Australian guy in Sligo; my phone (it's my contact to friends all over the world); and my jeep, a hybrid Mitsubishi Outlander.