Tag Archives: Burrenbeo Trust

The ancient tradition of the May Tree Dance will be celebrated afresh in Carron next month, with members of the public invited to join Edwina Guckian for a one-off event in the Burren. The Clare dancer has discovered ancient descriptions of the dance, which dates back thousands of years, and is using these description to develop of modern approximation of how our ancestors might have danced. The event, which is being organised by the BurrenBeo Trust, will take place in Carron on May 6, but there will be two free workshops this weekend for anyone who wants to learn more about the dance and the ancient pagan May traditions in Clare. “In ancient times people would decorate their May tree, which is usually a hawthorn tree, the tree of the fairies. Bealtaine is a really busy time for the fairies and the devilment that they get up to, or so our ancestors would have believed,” said Edwina. “The idea of …

THE ancient and unique farming practice of out-wintering cattle in the Burren will be celebrated this month at the annual Burren Winterage Weekend festival. The festival takes place between October 26 and 30 in Corofin and various locations across the Burren region. Co-ordinated by local landscape charity The Burrenbeo Trust, this year’s festival features a wide range of farming, heritage, and cultural events. Among these will be several Burren farm walks, a Tea Talk on farming and archaeology, book reading and discussions with bestselling authors James Rebanks and Jane Clarke. There will be ‘transhumance’ cheese tasting, a butter making workshop, a children’s creative nature-writing workshop and much more. A day-long Burren Winterage School will be held on the theme of Education for Sustainable Development in Rural Areas, Farming for Nature Networking Day and National Farming for Nature Awards. The flagship event of weekend, the Community Cattle Drive where hundreds of people will be invited to join a local farming family …

SAINT Patrick’s hall in Corofin and a few locations in the surrounding area will be the venues for a day long programme of events celebrating community action for Heritage on Saturday, August 20. This celebration which will take place during Heritage Week is being hosted by Burrenbeo Trust, a landscape charity engaged in heritage education and community-led conservation for over 20 years.   Áine Bird, Coordinator of Burrenbeo Trust says, “Many community groups and schools around Ireland are working on inspiring initiatives to enhance their local built, natural, and cultural heritage. This event aims to bring these groups together, along with those thinking of setting up new groups, to learn, share and celebrate action.” Along with networking opportunities, attendees will be able to participate in workshops and field trips relevant to their communities. Themes of the workshops include planting for nature, citizen science, oral history recording, the do’s and don’ts of creating ponds, working with local monuments, setting up groups and …

BURREN in Bloom, the annual celebration of the Burren’s rich biodiversity returns this May. The event, running from Thursday, May 19 to Sunday, May 22 will include a range of guided walks, evening talks and family events to coincide with the UN International Day for Biological Diversity on May 22. Áine Bird, Coordinator of Burrenbeo Trust says, “Burren in Bloom is more than a celebration, it is an important reminder that the wonder of the Burren’s wildflowers must not be taken for granted. “Careful management and continuation of the ancient practice of winterage by hundreds of farmers in the Burren, the scientific and economic support they receive, and the informed pride of the local community in our natural heritage – all play a crucial part in keeping the Burren blooming each year.” This year, the festival will start with an online talk on the evening of Thursday, May 19 on ‘Nature as a partner – changing attitudes to nature and …

A North Clare family from both sides of the Atlantic will be reunited next week in Doolin for the Ireland premiere of an award-winning documentary about their family history. This film, showing on May 4 at Hotel Doolin, highlights the story of a traditional Gaelic clan of the Burren, the O’Dubhdaboreinn. The film, called ‘Burren Girl,’ (www.burrengirldoc.com) follows the quest of Irish American Rita Davern as she searches ancient records and wanders the Burren interviewing friends and distant relations to learn more about the land and people her grandmother left behind in 1887. Ms. Davern, who produced and directed the film, said, “I am excited to bring this film back home to the Burren, where the my family’s story began more than 1200 years ago. “Twelve people from the extended Davern branch, and a few filmmakers will also come over from Minnesota for the premiere. They are excited to finally meet the Davorens they encountered in the film. “Our ancestors …

A DOCUMENTARY about the Burren that captivated Irish audiences on its release has begun a run on US television with the potential to reach up to 200 million people. Burren: Heart of Stone cast new light on our understanding of the region, presenting evidence of human activity in Ireland 20,000 years earlier than previously known. Narrated by multi-award winning actor Brendan Gleeson, the show is a two-part documentary that captured an unprecedented audience of one million people when it premiered on RTE. The two-part series created by film maker Katrina Costello, of Silver Branch Films will be broadcast to 90% of US households to 200 million people on Public Broadcasting TV station over a 12-month period. “The audience reach in the States will be massive, a predicted 200,000,000 people will watch it in the next 12 months. I imagine people will long to come here,” said Katrina. The programme will get repeated airings in every part of the USA and …

ON Monday, Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Senator Pippa Hackett joined members of local charity, Burrenbeo Trust, some of the local farmers, and representatives of Clare County Council and Irish Seedsavers to launch The Hare’s Corner, a new biodiversity initiative for Clare. Inspired by the term ‘The Hare’s Corner’, an old farming expression for an awkward section of a field which wasn’t intensively farmed and so was ‘left to nature’, this project aims to help Clare landowners create pocket-sized habitats such as a mini-woodland, a pond, an orchard or a combination of all three on their land, which will be beneficial for both wildlife and farming. Participation in the Hare’s Corner will come at no cost to the landowner and assistance with site assessments, permissions, training and costs towards materials and works will be provided through the project. ‘The Hare’s Corner’ is co-ordinated by the Burrenbeo Trust, a local landscape charity and funded …

Hundreds of people from the Burren and further afield gathered over the recent October Bank Holiday Weekend to join in the Burren Winterage Weekend, a celebration of the Burren’s unique farming heritage. For thousands of years, Burren farmers have marked the end of summer by herding their cattle up onto winter pastures in the limestone uplands, in the tradition known as winterage and the Burren is one of the only places in the world where it still occurs. Winterage has been integral to shaping today’s familiar Burren landscape. With coordination support by local landscape charity Burrenbeo Trust, community members put on an amazing range of events including a community gathering, herdsman walk, heritage walks in Ballyvaughan and Fanore, farmers market and farming innovation fair. The weekend culminated in the community cattle drive where the community followed a herd of cattle into the Burren hills where they will spend the winter. The weekend was a great celebration of this rich tradition …