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 […]
Environment
As the world population grows Aquaculture is considered vital to global food security and so is expected to continue expanding in the coming years. In Ireland Aquaculture employs around 2,000 people with mussel farming accounting for around 317 jobs, nevertheless Kinsale residents, backed by all of the area’s councillors, have […]
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 […]
When I was young, I often sat alone by the beacon at Wood Point, looked out across Courtmacsherry Bay, and day-dreamed. The sea then seemed infinite and clean, unspoiled by Man. One day, I would sail away, over the horizon; (I never did). But now, if I can even find […]
The heritage council defines traditional buildings as those constructed before World War II. There are estimated to be 270,000 traditional buildings in Ireland that were built prior to 1945. A traditional building doesn’t necessarily indicate that the property is of particular architectural or historical merit (i.e a listed or protected […]