Tag Archives: the burren

Chairman of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, Pat Breen, in welcoming the impending visit of Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla to County Clare, said today (Tuesday) that their visit provides an opportunity to showcase the Burren to a global audience. “The visit of the Prince of Wales, Charles and his wife, the Duchess of Cornwall Camilla, is testament to the strong and warm relationship which now exists between England and Ireland. The fact that the royals have included a visit to the Burren in their itinerary is a major boost for this county,” Deputy Breen. Speaking of the benefits for his native county, Mr Breen said, “Prince Charles is recognised for having a strong interest in the environment and in agriculture. In the Burren, he will be able to see for himself how the local farming community have adapted their farming methods to the challenging landscape of the area which is delivering significant environment benefits. “It …

The North Clare business community is getting involved in keeping the roads and laneways of the Burren tidy through a scheme rolled out by the Burren Ecotourism Network (BEN), and supported by Clare County Council and the Burren & Cliffs of Moher Geopark Over 30 businesses have already signed up to the Adopt a Hedgerow Scheme, which sees participants clearing, monitoring and reporting on litter in the protected landscape of the Burren. The Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark is providing training and materials to BEN under the GeoparkLIFE project to ensure that adopt a hedgerow becomes a long term scheme that will inspire other business communities in other parts of the county. BEN says the scheme will be extended in June to include the reporting of invasive species such as Japanese Knotweed, Giant Hogweed and Dogwood, which can negatively impact on native species that have been part of the Burren ecosystem for millennia. “Each of the participating businesses, which are all members of our network, is taking …

HISTORIAN and archaeologist Stephen Daly is working on an extremely ambitious book tracing the development of Ireland and he visited the Banner County last week as part of his project. Between 2001 and 2008, he completed a degree in history, a postgraduate qualification in archaeology and worked on some major civil engineering projects in the West and Mid-West. In 2009, he began working on this book and it has taken up nearly all his energy since. “I’ve been at it full-time for the last five years. I never intended for it to be so long but I decided to devote the time that it demanded. I said I’d do it right if I was going doing it at all.” Explaining what the book will cover, he says, “It’s called The Evolution of Ireland and it’s basically telling the complete story of Ireland, so it’s going back to the earliest human settlers of the island and even before that. It’ll go …

Some 750,000 Belgians are the latest TV viewers who will be given an insight into the Banner County the Wild Atlantic Way. A crew from one of the most popular weekly travel shows, Vlaanderen Vakantieland (Flanders on Holiday), on VRT, a national Belgian TV network, travelled on the invitation of Tourism Ireland to film along the Wild Atlantic Way this summer. They captured footage for four different episodes, which are airing this month in Belgium. Two well-known Belgian actors are featured enjoying the relaxed pace of a holiday by horse-drawn caravan along the route. Filming was carried out at various locations, including Clare Heritage Museum, the Burren and the Cliffs of Moher. The TV show will also feature sea-kayaking at Ballyvaughan and Dolphinwatch conservation in Carrigaholt. The episodes filmed in Ireland are also being promoted by Tourism Ireland on its website, www.ireland.com, by email marketing and social media activity; as well as on the Vlaanderen Vakantieland website.  

THE Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark will mark Earth Science Week 2014 in October by hosting a series of events. Earth Science week was initiated in 1998 by the American Geosciences Institute which has been holding events in the third week of October ever since. Geological associations and institutes around the world now participate to promote awareness and education of all aspects of Earth Science. Among the events being hosted by the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Geopark is a fieldtrip for university students looking at climate change in the rocks of the Burren.  There will also be a water tracing project for transition year students from Lisdoonvarna Secondary School, which is being supported by the Clare Caving Club, the Geological Survey of Ireland and Clare County Council.

THE RNLI Lifeboats has unveiled that schedule for their up-coming walks in Clare. Fr Ger Fitzgerald from Ennis joined a team of lifeboat supporters in the Burren for the formal launch. First up on the very busy schedule is Sunday when the Hills of Ayleroe in Kildysart will be the location for a 8km stroll through the beautiful country side in West Clare. Regestration for this event is at 3pm in Cyril Reidy’s field in Aylroe, with a 3.30pm start. For people who may not know the area well, Ayleroe is situated four miles on the coast road through Kildysart to Lababsheeda. The Burren Ramble is next on the list and this will take place on Sunday, September 14 with base camp at the car park at Fanore beach, with regestration at 12.30 pm for a 1pm start. The scene then switches to East Clare, when Broadford and its surrounds will provide the place for a walk through the highways …

A Derry-based academic has uncovered evidence suggesting that the world-famous karst landscape of the Burren Region inspired J.R.R. Tolkien in his masterworks ‘ The Lord of The Rings’ and ‘The Silmarillion’. Following a recent trip to examine the original J.R.R. Tolkien manuscripts and papers at Marquette University in Wisconsin, USA, Tolkien scholar Dr. Liam Campbell will discuss his research findings and their outreach in terms of how the English writer’s acclaimed work has profound and traceable interconnections with Ireland. Dr Campbell’s talk will feature at the Burren Tolkien Society Festival on August 15-24. Organised by the Burren Tolkien Society and supported by Clare County Library and the Burren & Cliffs of Moher Geopark, the festival will feature contributions from Tolkien experts, writing workshops, screenings, lectures and guided walks of the locations frequented by Tolkien, including Poll na Gollum Cave which event organisers suggest influenced the creation of one of the author’s most famous characters (Gollum). “An unexpected body of evidence …

Caves under North Clare and South Galway could extend 30 miles under Galway Bay and reach the Aran Islands, researchers have discovered. Rain falling in the Burren and filtering through the limestone appears to be then travelling in underground rivers to the coast and under Galway Bay, before emerging in springs on Inishmaan, and in the bay itself, according to work by a group from NUI Galway. Geologists have found large networks of underground rivers hidden under the seabed and, while the current research project is wrapping up, additional funding would enable them to identify targets in the subsurface that could be drilled out and water abstracted from them to supply the Aran Islands. “I would never suggest there is an unending supply of water you could hit there, but there is good potential for hitting a water resource that might augment the water that falls on Inishmaan, or that might help with dealing with water supply on the smaller …