Loneliness is crippling and something that is quite common and often unspoken about with farmers, said Farmer Phil in his new book, An Irish Family Farm in Twelve Fields.

Revealing his personal experience in the book which he wrote with his wife, Liv, the farmer and creator said that before he met her, he suffered particularly at night from depression due to loneliness.

Farmers, he said, spend a lot of time by themselves, working the land or livestock, "never seeing a sinner" and rarely leaving the farm.

"A tough subject to talk about, as we're always 'grand', but important nonetheless if for anything, to let people who suffer from it know they're not alone and it's okay to talk about it," he said in a chapter `Beyond the Fields' at the end of the book.

The Stewart family has farmed their land in Co. Longford since 1938 when Farmer Phil's grandfather, Harry Stewart, relocated from his homeplace in Enybegs at the age of 19, with two horses, a cart, a plough and a bag of oat seed.

Today the family farms over 500ac of land, rearing around 250 dairy beef calves, as well as agri-contracting, running a farm shop, and restoring vintage machinery.

Readers learn about the history and day-to-day life of the Stewart family through 12 of its fields.

From fields with evocative names such as 'Julia’s Bottoms', the 'Haggard Field' and the 'Castle', to the more prosaically named 'Big Field' and 'Field along the Road', all bring purpose, history and stories.

Memories of events are always tied to the fields they worked in at the time, Farmer Phil said in the book.

Stories by his grandfather and late uncle Ian are recounted and there is a real sense of respect for past generations.

Machinery fans will enjoy the insight into how old pieces, such as the old Armer Salmon single-row beet harvester, were rescued.

Purchases such as a stone picker, and their vintage silage days of the past, are also recalled.

Having first been taught to drive on a Massey Ferguson 35, the author contended that there is no machine he could not handle now.

His passion for farming shines through as he shares anecdotes and slices of farming life through the seasons.

An Irish Family Farm in Twelve Fields is the latest in a slew of farming books to be published and makes for an absorbing read, ideal to dip in and out of, with explanations for those outside the farming community.

It is published by Gill Books and is now in the shops.