Around Ireland saunas have become new hubs of community as thousands of people are being drawn to the powerful forces of fire, water, steam and sweat.

Sweathouse threads together the 3,000-year-old tradition of sauna in Ireland and reveals for the first time how this ‘new craze’ is a forgotten Irish legacy, smouldering just below the surface, waiting for its moment to catch fire again.

Combining in-depth research with personal experience, Cooney crawls inside enigmatic stone sweathouses in search of their long-held secrets, and traces Ireland’s extraordinary role in the spread of sweat-bathing across the world. She travels around Europe to wild and magical saunas, bringing home their deep expertise on how to get the best physical, mental and spiritual benefits from each sweat session.