Project focusing on Cavan's boglands returns
‘Restoring Cavan’s Boglands’, a Creative Climate Action project, is back in 2024 with two upcoming events.
Firstly, a talk and question and answer session will take place at Templeport Resource Centre on Tuesday, March 26, starting 7pm. There will be presentations by hydrologist and Irish boglands expert Francis Mackin, and local biodiversity expert and West Cavan Bogs Association member Heather Bothwell.
Composer Ian Wilson will also speak at the event, where he will present some of the field recordings he has captured so far in Cavan boglands. These recordings will form part of a new music composition that the contemporary classical composer is working on. The piece will be ready for public dissemination in September 2024 with a concert planned for West Cavan.
The second event is a field trip to Girley Bog in Co. Meath with bog guide and expert Kate Flood on Saturday, April 13, where organisers hope participants will assist Ian to get more audio and they will be encouraged to get out their mobile phones and capture the sounds of the bog and its wildlife.
Last year Ian Wilson, Francis Mackin and Heather Bothwell hosted a well attended event in Kildallan which generated an interesting discussion, and a hope of salvaging Cavan’s precious bog heritage.
The ‘Restoring Cavan’s Boglands’ project is a Creative Ireland Climate Action fund project that aims to address the important issue of bog health. Historically in Ireland many bogs were drained and so lack the qualities of wet bogland which, as well as sequestering carbon, naturally attracts a great variety of flora and fauna.
The project team is currently engaging with communities, interested individuals and landowners to encourage and educate about rewetting boglands and the positive impacts that can have.
The Restoring Cavan’s Boglands is a free project open to people from all across County Cavan who are interested in finding out more about bogland. It is a recipient funding through the Creative Climate Action project, an initiative from the Creative Ireland Programme.
To register interest email: restoringcavansboglands@gmail.com, call 085 1030569, or visit West Cavan Bogs Association on Facebook for all the latest updates.