I took folks' advice a few months back and read a few books about pigs: practical and otherwise.
I really enjoyed 'The English Pig: A History' by Robert W. Malcolmson and S.N. Mastoris. I thoroughly recommend it: it gives a lot of historical context to pig-keeping.
It's about England, and I can find no equivalent for the 'celtic' countries, though much of it would apply probably.
As regards Ireland, the best I have read in a long while about the muc (welsh=machyn) in Irish society is this piece by Kerryman Con Houlihan, published recently in the Dublin Herald. It rings true to this day.
http://www.herald.ie/opinion/columnists/con-houlihan/con-houlihan-gambling-pride-on-price-of-the-piglets-2056225.htmlFor my own sins, the water supply is working, the stone walls have been re-built, the electric fence has been lit, and the sty is half-built. The day of the arrival looms....