The Wild Atlantic Way has been a great success. Every year thousands take to our lovely roads and boreens. But a word of caution for those heading out this summer. West Cork roads are sneaky. West Cork roads will bring you back exactly where you started from. A road can […]
The charms of Tuscany are well known, but some of the more popular spots have become confected, where streets that once had butchers and bakers are now populated only by tourist shops. For this reason, I’ve always been smitten with Umbria, Tuscany’s poor cousin next door. Ever since we went […]
This month, branch committee member Mark Loughrey lauds the mallard. There is an old Irish saying that goes: ‘An rud is annamh is iontach’. It means ‘what is seldom is wonderful’. This is certainly true in the bird world. The elusive penduline tit that was spotted in Macroom a few […]
Since its inception nine years ago, Kinsale Arts Weekend (July 10-13, 2025), has grown from a small but lively weekend into a well-respected annual celebration of creativity with national reach. While over the years the festival has grown in both scale and confidence – it now boasts a multidisciplinary programme […]
This month Andrea Reichstein, a member of the Save Murragh Action Group committed to protecting the Bandon River Valley, discusses the importance of fresh water pearl mussels. They’re not wearing capes, but they might as well be. Freshwater pearl mussels are quiet superheroes of our waterways. They can clean water […]
Pádraig Whooley of the Irish Whale and Dolphin Group (IWDG) and the ‘Save our Sprat West Cork’ campaign explains why sprat, along with a handful of other forage fish, are critically important keystone species and the detrimental effect their decline will have on coastal communities in West Cork. Sprat feed […]