The Burrenbeo Conservation Volunteers (BCV)  are an active voluntary community of volunteers working towards the sustainable management of the Burren by addressing key conservation issues and needs in the region. They were set up in 2010 by the Burrenbeo Trust to answer a need of active conservation work on the ground in the Burren region and to enable people to help protect the future of such a fragile place..

In a region of decreasing rural population key conservation issues such as scrub encroachment and the rebuilding of stone walls are becoming harder to tackle. The Burrenbeo Conservation Volunteers (BCVs) was born out of a need for hands-on conservation worker. By training groups of volunteers Burrenbeo Trust is actively supporting a sustainable future for the Burren.

The BCV committee

The BCV committee were set up in 2012 to guide the BCV’s, ensuring that events were varied, met a definite need in the Burren and gave our volunteers the best volunteering experience possible. Not only do they meet in their own time but they also rotate for leading events to make sure that our high health and safety standards are met on all events.

Meet the current committee:

   

Past committee members (for which we are eternally grateful for all their time and input) include:

Martin Gowran                             Stephen Lester             Anne Mullen
Ruth Hollingsworth                    Paula McHale               Elaine O’Malley
Mary Howard                                Richard Morrison        Stephen Ward

BCV projects

The volunteers work on a number of projects and have many more in sight in order to make a valuable impact. Our main projects include:

• Archaeological excavation and survey work
• Dry Stone Walling
• Scrub management
• Species monitoring
• Landscape management
• Invasive species

The power of teamwork

We all know that working in teams can get the job done much faster – well, this is definitely the case when it comes to scrub clearing, stone wall building, archaeological digs, invasive species mapping, clean coast initiatives… the list goes on. Working as a collective, building a bank of active volunteers and collaborating with other local organisations who share the same vision, has proven to be half the battle when making positive efforts towards conservation locally in the Burren by creating an inclusive environment for people to come together, share their passion for conservation and be part of a growing, energetic and welcoming community.

When it comes to conserving this beautiful Burren landscape, we all have a part to play – we just need to identify it. The power of local communities is a transferable skill which can be experienced the world over and each and every one has something to give.

Who can join the volunteers?

Everyone is welcome to get involved – the more the better, so come join us – its free, just your time is needed! Events are most suitable for over 18’s, under 18’s must be accompanied by a responsible adult. To register with the Burrenbeo Conservation Volunteers email volunteer@burrenbeo.com.

Volunteer award scheme

In 2018 we realised just how much  work on the ground the BCV’s had carried out with no real recognition of the amount of time individuals had donated, so we set up an award scheme to show our appreciation of all our hard working volunteers.

It’s as simple as it sounds – once a volunteer has attended 5 events since the start of the scheme they are rewarded with a gentian pin badge, after 10 events a BCV beanie hat, and so on…

Upskill and training

Invaluable skills are developed through training courses and workshops which are there to encourage learning, build confidence and ensure safety at all times. The group is open, welcoming and tirelessly attempts to engage with wider communities and enlist a broad spectrum of experts – driving home the importance of conservation. Each conservation action day is led by an expert. These professional leaders are in the position to up-skill and impart knowledge to volunteers on a specific subject. With some leaders, the BCVs carry out on-going conservation work to support sustainable impact where needed. Other action days may be a one-off situation that needs addressing. The leaders have the experience and enthusiasm to lead the group through the task. We are hugely grateful to all our leaders.

The Voice of the Volunteer

The Burrenbeo Conservation Volunteers is conservation through education. For me, it has been a most enjoyable, rewarding and learning experience. I have met some wonderful people and have made many new friends. Farmers who want to protect butterfly sites, landowners who want to preserve archaeological sites, communities and families who come out to clean up our coastline, all volunteering to made a difference in the Burren.Our projects have been so varied, but for me, I became ‘hooked’ on archaeology. As a result and with little encouragement, I went onto study Archaeology at NUIG where I received a first class honours diploma. The learning for all volunteers continues on each of the projects with the knowledge and commitment of the many experts who have come involved in the BCVs.   Mary Howard, Volunteer

Why not join us

So, are you interested to be part of maintaining the Burren’s history, culture and precious ecosystems? If so, why not join the fun and enthusiastic team of conservation volunteers, share your passion for the Burren with others and make a huge difference to the biodiversity and maintenance of this unique landscape. Becoming a volunteer offers you an opportunity to build skills, knowledge about place and indeed, lasting friendships.

This is an active group of conservation volunteers that have been working in areas of archaeology conservation, rare species monitoring, managing scrub encroachment and much more since 2010. The BCV hold monthly events.  Find the links below to the ones that interest you.

Please note that all our event leaders and experts are volunteers (many of whom have full time employment elsewhere) and often give much of their precious free time to helping run volunteer events. For this reason it is difficult to run one off events for groups visiting the Burren. The Burrenbeo Trust can occasionally organise such events but they are at a cost to cover the time of the leaders and experts on the day. Email info@burrenbeo.com for more details.

Why should you get involved?

• Get outdoors, enjoy some healthy exercise and give something back in the region
• Learn new skills in conservation and heritage management
• Be part of a friendly, inclusive and active conservation community

Join us today and make that difference! To register for the events email volunteer@burrenbeo.com

Led by the community

The Burrenbeo Conservation Volunteers comes under the umbrella of the Burrenbeo Trust for insurance and administration but has its own committee of community members that guide and support the group. Kate Lavender who works in the Burrenbeo Trust is the Volunteer Coordinator.

The committee consists of:

Eileen O’ Connor (Chair), Kate Lavender (Secretary), Margaret Duffy,  Ruth Hollingsworth, Anne Mullen, Ritchie Jones, Mike Scanlon and Wendy Smith

Who leads the events:

Burrenbeo Conservation Volunteers relies on members of the community to lead the volunteer days.   Current leaders include Mary Howard, Ritchie Jones, Kate Lavender, Clodagh and Michael Lynch, Anne Mullen, Eileen O’Connor, Sharon Parr, Wendy Smith and Mike Scanlon.  We are grateful to all our leaders past and present for the immense time and energy they give to coordinating events on a voluntary level. All our leaders are first aid training.

Which experts support the up-skilling and training of the volunteers:

Many of the volunteer events are about further educations the volunteers around a certain area of conservation.  We are hugely grateful too all the experts past and present that have support this up-skilling and training.  Below are who we have worked with regularly in the past 12 month or so.

Dr Michelle Comber is an archaeologist based out of NUI Galway.   She is highly involved in running the Caherconnell Fort archaeology summer school.  Michelle has done artefact training and pre-dig survey work with the volunteers.

Dr Christine Grant works with the National Monuments Service.   Much of the Burren holds an unknown amount of unrecorded forts, mound walls, wedge tombs etc. many of which are not being protected and are being damaged in some cases due to lack of awareness and are becoming overgrown with hazel scrub.  In order to work towards conserving the archaeology of
the Burren, the volunteers have been working closely with the National Monument Officer for the region, in clearing scrub, doing preliminary excavations and helping out with survey work.  The main bulk of work that the volunteers have done with Christine is at Kilcroney, nr Carron.

Jesmond Harding is a founding member of Butterfly Conservation Ireland.  A huge butterfly enthusiast and author of ‘Discovering Irish Butterflies and their Habitats’ has been working with the volunteers since 2010 on managing a site call Fahee North near Carran which is the host of many species of butterflies including the rare Marsh Fritillary.  By managing the encroaching Hazel scrub the volunteers are helping this rare butterfly increase its breeding potential.

Michael and Clodagh Lynch have been working in archaeology in the Burren for over 15 years. They have surveyed numerous monuments in the Burren including many previously unrecorded sites. Their main interest is in prehistoric archaeology and their recent excavations at Fanore More and Doolin are part of their research. Much of this work has been carried out with the assistance of the Burren Conservation Volunteers Michael is the Field Monument Advisor for Co. Clare.

Dr Sharon Parr is the Scientific Officer with the Burren Programme which follows on from the award-winning EU project  – The Burren farming for conservation project, BurrenLife.  She is the BSBI vice-county recorder for Co.Clare.  Sharon works with the volunteers on numerous ecological related projects.  Her main site is the clearing of encroaching species at Cappagh Tower house nr Carron.

Dr Ros Ó Maoldúin is an archaeologist based out of NUI Galway.   He has a particular interest in the Bronze Age era of Ireland.  He is the field director of the Irish Fieldschool of Prehistoric Archaeology.  Ros has work with our volunteers in pre-evacuation surveys around Roughan hill near to Corofin.

Dr Kate McAney and Ruth Hanniffy work for the Vincent Wildlife Trust.  They promote mammal conservation and research through lectures, bat walks and publications.  They have been working with the volunteers in helping restore an important bat roosting site near to Ruan.

Paula McHale is part of the team at the Burren Life farming for conservation programme.  She is also the regional coordinator of butterfly transects for the National Biodiversity Data Centre.  Paula has been key in training the volunteers in butterfly transects and in invasive species.

Rory O’Shaughnessey works closely with the volunteers on dry stone walling and the importance of these walls in natural, built and cultural heritage of the Burren.   Rory is a heritage specialist in schools and descends from one of the oldest clans in the Burren Lowlands. A graduate of NUIG and UCC he divides the year as a tour guide, stonemason and an educator and has been involved in devising, delivering and tutoring on numerous and diverse courses in the heritage field from stone walling to genealogy to archaeology.  Rory has been working with the volunteers on walling out on Blackhead, between Ballyvaughan and Fanore.

 

Who has supported volunteers?

We are grateful to all individuals that join and give their time to the volunteer. However, there have been some grants that have helping with training of the groups:

2018: Clean Coasts
2015: IPB Community Fund & Galway Education Board Fund
2011: The Ireland Funds

See more here on:

Ongoing projects   Upcoming events for volunteers

What have the volunteers achieved?

View below all the activities that the Burrenbeo Conservation volunteers have achieved so far:

When	General Area	What	Where	Leader	From
2021	Biodiversity	Pine Project Site Guardian Training	Tubber area	Bernard Carey and Brendan Dundord
2021	Conservation	Coastal Clean Up	Fanore	K. Lavender	BCV
2020	Archaeology	Monument site maintenance	Cappagh	S. Parr	Burren Programme
2020	Biodiversity	Habitat Maintenance	Carron Area	BCV committee	BCV
2020	Biodiversity	Habitat Maintenance	Carron area	Jesmond Harding	Butterfly Conservation Ireland
2020	Archaeology	Monument site management	Nougheval	M&C Lynch	Local archaeologists
2019	Biodiversity	Bat site management	Dromore	R. Hollingsworth	BCV
2019	Conservation	Drystone walling	Poulacarron	J. Marrinan/M. Scanlon	Local farmer/BCV
2019	Conservation	Coastal Clean Up	Fanore Caravan Park coastline	K. Lavender	BCV
2019	Conservation	Coastal Clean Up	Fanore	E. O'Connor	BCV
2019	Conservation	Monument site management	Noughaval	Michael and Clodagh Lynch
2019	Training	First aid training	Carron	Barry Redmond	First Response
2018	Biodiversity	Bat site management	Dromore	R. Hollingsworth	BCV
2018	Conservation	Coastal Clean up	Fanore	W. Smith/P. McHale	BCV
2018	Conservation	Open Day	Ballyvaughan	Various	BCV committee
2018	Biodiversity	Habitat restoration	North Burren	A. Mullen	Burren Programme
2018	Biodiversity	Bat monitoring training	Kinvara	R. Hanniffy	Vincent Wildlife Trust
2018	Conservation	Coastal Clean Up	Fanore	E. O'Connor/K. Lavender	BCV
2018	Biodiversity	Bat site management	Dromore	R. Hollingsworth	BCV
2018	Conservation	Coastal Clean up	Murrough, Blackhead	K. Lavender	Burrenbeo Trust
2018	Archaeology	Monument site Maintenance	Baur	M&C Lynch
2018	Training	REC 2 first aid course	Turough	B. Redmond	First Response
2017	Archaeology	Monument site management	Ballycasheen	Ros O'Maolduin	Prehistoric Field School of Archaeology
2017	Biodiversity	Butterfly site management	Fahee, Carron	Ann Mullen	Burren Life
2017	Conservation	Conservation Volunteering Open Day	Carron	BCV committee R. O'Maolduin J. Harding	BCV Fieldschool of Prehistoric Archaeology Butterfly Conservation Ireland
2017	Biodiversity	Bat site maintenance	Dromore	R. Hollingsworth and S. Biggane	BCV and Clare Co Co
2017	Biodiversity	Constructing a bat night roost	Fiddaun	R. Hanniffy and K. McAney	Vincent Wildlife Trust
2017	Conservation	Trail management	Newtown, Ballyvaughan	R. Morrison	In conjunction with the Burren College or Art
2017	Conservation	Drystone wall repair	Coolorta	R. Jones	BCV
2017	Conservation	Coastal clean up	Fanore	E. O'Connor	BCV
2017	Conservation	Coastal clean up	Fanore	Various experts	BCV, Burren Shores
2017	Archaeology	Site Management	Roughan Hill	Ros O'Maolduin	NUI Galway
2016	Archaeology	Site management	Roughan Hill	Ros O'Maolduin	NUI Galway
2016	Invasive Alien Species	Mapping IAS	Carron	P. Murphy	Eireco
2016	Special Monitoring	Bat breeding site maintenance	Fiddaun	Dr Kate McAney	Vincent Wildlife Trust
2016	Landscape management	Coastal clean up rocky shore Fanore	Fanore
2016	Landscape management	Fanore beach clean	Fanore
2016	Archaeology	Post excavation work (Mar,Apr,May,Jun)	Kilnaboy	Michael & Clodagh Lynch	Field Monument Advisor
2016	Monument management	Scrub clearing at Cappagh Tower House	Carron	Dr Sharon Parr	Burren Life
2016	Monument management	Scrub clearing from monuments on Roughan Hill	Corofin	Dr Ros O Maolduin	NUI Galway
2016	Walling	Repairing and rebuilding walls at Coolorta	Burren National Park
2016	Special Monitoring	Bat breeding site maintenance	Ruan	Dr Kate McAney	Vincent Wildlife Trust
2016	General Training	Butterfly transect training	Carron	Paula McHale
2015	Landscape management	Coastal clean up rocky shore Fanore	Blackhead
2015	Landscape management	Coastal clean up rocky shore Fanore	Blackhead
2015	Habitat management	Scrub clearing at butterfly breeding site	Fahee north	Jesmond Harding	Butterfly Conservation Ireland
2015	Habitat management	Scrub clearing at butterfly breeding site	Fahee north	Jesmond Harding	Butterfly Conservation Ireland
2015	Archaeology	Post excavation work	Kilnaboy	Michael & Clodagh Lynch	Field Monument Advisor
2015	Archaeology	Post excavation work	Kilnaboy	Michael & Clodagh Lynch	Field Monument Advisor
2015	Archaeology	Surveying at Fanore	Kilnaboy	Michael & Clodagh Lynch	Field Monument Advisor
2015	Archaeology	Prehistoric hut site mapping	Kilcorney	Dr Christine Grant	National Monument Service
2015	Archaeology	Doolin dig (4 weeks)	Kilnaboy	Michael & Clodagh Lynch	Field Monument Advisor
2015	Archaeology	Kilcorney excavation (1 week)	Kilcorney	Dr Christine Grant	National Monument Service
2015	Archaeology Training	Artefact handling course	Caherconnell	Dr Michelle Comber	NUI Galway
2015	Monument management	Scrub clearing at Cappagh Tower House	Carron	Dr Sharon Parr	Burren Life
2015	Monument management	Scrub clearing at Cappagh Tower House	Carron	Dr Sharon Parr	Burren Life
2015	Special Monitoring	Bat breeding site maintenance	Ruan	Dr Kate McAney	Vincent Wildlife Trust
2015	Special Monitoring	Bat site maintenance and emergence count	Ruan	Dr Kate McAney	Vincent Wildlife Trust
2015	Assisting with local community events	Assisting with Walk with a Difference	Carron
2015	General Training	Butterfly transect training		Paula McHale
2015	General Training	Invasive alien species ID workshop		Dr Sharon Parr, Paul Murphy & Kate Lavender
2015	General Training	Two day first aid course		Ray Murphy
2014	Landscape management	Coastal clean up Blackhead
2014	Landscape management	Coastal clean up Blackhead
2014	Habitat management	Scrub clearing at butterfly breeding site	Fahee north	Jesmond Harding	Butterfly Conservation Ireland
2014	Habitat management	Scrub clearing at butterfly breeding site	Fahee north	Jesmond Harding	Butterfly Conservation Ireland
2014	Archaeology	Surveying and mapping	Kilcorney	Dr Christine Grant	National Monument Service
2014	Archaeology	Post excavation work	Kilnaboy	Michael & Clodagh Lynch	Field Monument Advisor
2014	Archaeology	Post excavation work (2 days)	Kilnaboy	Michael & Clodagh Lynch	Field Monument Advisor
2014	Archaeology	Post excavation work	Kilnaboy	Michael & Clodagh Lynch	Field Monument Advisor
2014	Archaeology	Surveying at Doolin	Doolin	Michael & Clodagh Lynch	Field Monument Advisor
2014	Archaeology	Second Fanore excavation (3 weeks)	Kilnaboy	Michael & Clodagh Lynch	Field Monument Advisor
2014	Monument management	Scrub clearing at Cappagh Tower House	Carron	Dr Sharon Parr	Burren Life
2014	Monument management	Scrub clearing at Cappagh Tower House	Carron	Dr Sharon Parr	Burren Life
2014	Walling	Repairing and rebuilding walls at Coolorta	Burren National Park
2014	Walling	Repairing and rebuilding walls at Coolorta	Burren National Park
2014	Other events	Dismantling mini-dolmens	Fanore	Mary Howard	Volunteer
2014	Special Monitoring	Bat breeding site maintenance	Ruan	Dr Kate McAney	Vincent Wildlife Trust
2014	Other events	Dismantling mini-dolmens	Fanore	Mary Howard	Volunteer
2014	Assisting with local community events	Assisting with Walk with a Difference	Flaggy Shore
2014	Assisting with local community events	Assisting with Winterage weekend	Bellharbour
2013	Assisting with local community events	Assisting with Bells across the Burren	Ballyvaughan
2013	Landscape management	Coastal clean up rocky shore Fanore
2013	Habitat management	Scrub clearing at butterfly breeding site	Fahee north	Jesmond Harding	Butterfly Conservation Ireland
2013	Habitat management	Scrub clearing at butterfly breeding site	Fahee north	Jesmond Harding	Butterfly Conservation Ireland
2013	Archaeology	Post excavation work (2 days)	Kilnaboy	Michael & Clodagh Lynch	Field Monument Advisor
2013	Archaeology	Post excavation work (2 days)	Kilnaboy	Michael & Clodagh Lynch	Field Monument Advisor
2013	Archaeology	Post excavation work (2 days)	Kilnaboy	Michael & Clodagh Lynch	Field Monument Advisor
2013	Archaeology	Atlas mapping day	Kilcorney	Dr Christine Grant	National Monument Service
2013	Archaeology	Post excavation work (2 days)	Kilnaboy	Michael & Clodagh Lynch	Field Monument Advisor
2013	Monument management	Scrub clearing from around Doolin Court Tomb	Doolin	Dr Christine Grant	National Monument Service
2013	Walling	Repairing and rebuilding walls at Coolorta	Burren National Park
2013	Other events	Newtown music trail clearing	Ballyvaughan	Dr Stephen Ward	Volunteer
2013	Other events	Newtown music trail clearing	Ballyvaughan	Dr Stephen Ward	Volunteer
2013	Other events	Dismantling mini-dolmens	Fanore	Mary Howard	Volunteer
2013	Assisting with local community events	Assisting with Walk with a Difference	Flaggy Shore
2013	General Training	Butterfly transect training	Carron	Paula McHale
2013	General Training	Two day first aid course		Ray Murphy
2013	General Training	Wildflower identification workshop		Drs Sharon Parr and Stephen Ward
2012	Landscape management	Coastal clean up Blackhead
2012	Habitat management	Scrub clearing at butterfly breeding site	Fahee north	Jesmond Harding	Butterfly Conservation Ireland
2012	Habitat management	Scrub clearing at butterfly breeding site	Fahee north	Jesmond Harding	Butterfly Conservation Ireland
2012	Archaeology	5 week excavation at Fanore Shell Midden	Fanore	Michael & Clodagh Lynch	Field Monument Advisor
2012	Archaeology	Filling in Fanore dig (2 days)	Fanore	Michael & Clodagh Lynch	Field Monument Advisor
2012	Archaeology	Post excavation work (2 days)	Kilnaboy	Michael & Clodagh Lynch	Field Monument Advisor
2012	Archaeology Training	Atlas training	Carron	Dr Christine Grant	National Monument Service
2012	Archaeology Training	Atlas training	Carron	Dr Christine Grant	National Monument Service
2012	Monument management	Scrub clearing at Cappagh Tower House	Carron	Dr Sharon Parr	Burren Life
2012	Walling	Repairing walls at Blackhead	Fanore	Shane Casey	Biodiversity Officer
2012	Walling Training	Workshop		Rory O'Shaughnessy	Stone Mason
2012	Other events	Dismantling mini-dolmens	Fanore	Mary Howard	Volunteer
2012	Assisting with local community events	Assisting with Walk with a Difference	Burren National Park
2012	General Training	Butterfly transect training	Carron	Dr Bryony Williams
2012	General Training	Mapping Skills	Carron	Pat Cronin
2012	General Training	Weekend Heritage Course	Carron
2011	Landscape management	Lough Bunny Spring Clean
2011	Habitat management	Scrub clearing at butterfly breeding site	Fahee north	Jesmond Harding	Butterfly Conservation Ireland
2011	Habitat management	Scrub clearing to control invasive cotoneaster	Abbey Hill	Shane Casey	Biodiversity Officer
2011	Archaeology	Preparing site for excavation at Caherconnell	Caherconnell	Dr Michelle Comber	NUI Galway
2011	Archaeology	Kilcorney excavation (5 days)	Kilcorney	Dr Christine Grant	National Monument Service
2011	Archaeology	Surveying at Fanore	Fanore	Michael & Clodagh Lynch	Field Monument Advisor
2011	Monument management	Scrub clearing from around Doolin Court Tomb	Doolin	Dr Christine Grant	National Monument Service
2011	Assisting with local community events	Stewarding for Burren triathlon	Ballyvaughan
2011	General Training	Weekend Heritage Course	Carron
2010	Landscape management	Fanore beach clean
2010	Habitat management	Scrub clearing at butterfly breeding site	Fahee north	Jesmond Harding	Butterfly Conservation Ireland
2010	Habitat management	Scrub clearing at butterfly breeding site	Fahee north	Jesmond Harding	Butterfly Conservation Ireland
2010	Habitat management	Scrub clearing at butterfly breeding site	Fahee north	Jesmond Harding	Butterfly Conservation Ireland
2010	Archaeology	Settlement surveying	Kilcorney	Dr Christine Grant	National Monument Service
2010	Walling	Repairing walls at Blackhead	Fanore	Shane Casey	Biodiversity Officer
2010	Walling Training	Workshop		Rory O'Shaughnessy	Stone Mason
2010	Assisting with local community events	Annual Biodiversity day	Kinvara