Burrenbeo Snapshot July 2022

8pm, Wednesday, 13th July

A Burrenbeo Members’ Webinar

Join us for an online talk with Cormac McGinley to learn about the Burren’s coastal habitat. Cormac grew up in a fishing family under the shadow of Slieve league in County Donegal, went off and studied zoology and marine biology at university and then worked at the Cliffs of Moher for over 10 years as their education officer. In 2018 he set up his private guided walking tour business taking guests on half or full day hikes of the Cliffs of Moher, the Burren and Slieve league.

Registration link is emailed to members. You can become a member at burrenbeo.com

Recordings will be made available on our Youtube channel afterwards.

Burrenbeo Members’ Walks

The June Members’ Walks had botanist Cilian Roden lead a walk at Fanore to  compare the very different floras of the different rock types and to re-find the Welsh poppy seen flowering there in 1993. We also had Burren farmer Frank O’Grady lead a walk on his farm in Killinaboy and talk about the past, present and future of farming in the Burren. In July we will have a farm walk on yet another stunning Burren farm in Fanore and there will also be our annual family walk and picnic on 14th of July near Carron to remember our Co-founder Ann O’Connor Dunford.   Registration links and details for monthly Members’ Walks are emailed to members. To become a member please visit https://burrenbeo.com/support-us/become-a-member/

This week Burrenbeo Conservation volunteers will be gathering to harvest some Burren yellow rattle seed, which once dried and packaged will be made available to order on Burrenbeo’s online shop. Yellow rattle is a hemi-parasitic plant that suppresses growth of grass, enabling greater diversity of wildflowers to grow. These limited quantity seeds should be ready for purchase in a few weeks time. Do keep an eye on our social media for news on this and members would be notified by email also. Burren Pine Project site guardians will also be visiting their assigned sites this month to check progress on the planted trees and carry out any maintenance work. Bat site maintenance work at Dromore woods has been planned for July.

Email volunteer@burrenbeo.com if you would like to join the BCV group.

The Hare’s Corner

Update

We were delighted with the response to the second call for applications for The Hare’s Corner project which was announced in early June. 121 application have been received from landowners in Co.Clare who would like support in carrying out biodiversity actions on their land. We are in the process of screening applicants through  the information submitted by them to our detailed questionnaire and additionally through site visits where necessary. For those who missed the deadline and would like to be notified about the next call for applications please enter your details at the above link.

We are planning a special event in August to bring together community groups from all over Ireland to learn, share and celebrate local action for heritage.  Expect to see inspiring examples of actions taken by community stewards and Heritage Keepers from across the country as well as local volunteer groups. An exhibition on Clare’s Climate heroes produced by the Stories of Change initiative, a communal feast, workshops, walks and music are all part of the programme of events. The event will be open to all but booking in advance will be necessary. More details coming soon. For now, do save the date!

Heritage Keepers

Programme Update

Heritage Keepers all over Ireland are now in the midst of their local actions. 18 projects have received funding to date, totaling over €14,000. We are now evaluating and reviewing the programme in preparation for a planned second cycle from October. Feedback from participants has been overwhelmingly positive with mention of meeting (online) other community groups and hearing the work they are doing, learning new skills like community engagement and how to plan a project and exploring remarkable tools such as heritage maps, census records, cartlann.org and dúchas.ie amongst others highlighted by participants as their favourite parts of the programme. Below are some testimonials from the participants;
“Excellent initiative and very worthwhile course. Facilitator was excellent and provided lots of good ideas and information to enable our group flourish.”
“Well thought out programme and very enjoyable, relevant and achievable outcomes. Thank you.”