The turning of Autumn to Winter is marked by one of the most significant events in the Burren’s farming calendar.   This is the time when several hundred farmers each herd their cattle up onto the Burren uplands for winter grazing, following an over-5,000-year-old pastoral tradition that is unique to the Burren and the Aran Islands.   This farming tradition that has shaped and defined the Burren in every way, is the inspiration behind the Burren Winterage Weekend which we celebrate each year around the October bank holiday.   We hope you will join us for some of the fantastic events that are being organised to celebrate the Burren Winterage Weekend between 20th and 24th October this month.   See more details below.

Thank you, as ever, for your continued interest in, and support of, our work.   For those who do not yet, we invite you to Support Us by becoming a member or donating.

Burren Winterage Weekend

burrenwinterage.com

Wednesday 20th – Sunday 24th Oct

Join us for this year’s celebration which includes a range of both online and in-person events.   There will be online talks on ‘Transhumance – our global heritage’, and ‘Farming in Irish writing’.   In-person events will see a gathering of various EIPs (European Innovation Partnerships) across Ireland, Farming for Nature workshops and national ambassador awards, farmer-led walks on some of the most stunning Burren farms, film screenings, poetry reading, artisan cheese tasting, an introduction to winterage meats and our flagship event of community cattle drive walk on Sunday 24th Oct.   While some events are free of charge – all paid events have a special discount for Burrenbeo members.   Pre-booking is essential for all events.   Burren Food Fayre, organised by the Burren Ecotourism Network also takes place on this weekend with a variety of wonderful food experiences on offer across the Burren.   See website link above for full information and booking.
You can sign up to be a Burrenbeo member here.

The Hare’s Corner

We were happily overwhelmed with the positive response we received for our call for applications for the new Hare’s Corner project.   The biodiversity initiative which is being piloted in Co.Clare to support landowners create a mini woodland, a pond or an orchard is being coordinated by Burrenbeo Trust and funded by the Dept of Agriculture, Food and the Marine through The European Innovation Partnerships Initiative (EIP)/Locally led schemes, as well as the Clare County Council and the National Parks and Wildlife Service.   We received a total of 165 expressions of interest and we are currently screening  these through remote and in-person site assessments and hope to start work on the ground as early as this month.   Our massive thanks to those who applied and we hope the learnings and success from this pilot project will enable us to expand the scale of the project to include more sites into the future.

Burren Conservation Volunteers

BCVs will be busy on an extreme gardening event this weekend, Sunday 3rd October, clearing vegetation from the nationally important Dromore bat maternity site.   There are still a couple of spaces left on this event so email volunteer@burrenbeo.com by Friday 5pm if you want a space.

Next event coming up is work on an archaeologically important site in the heart of the Burren.   Email volunteer@burrenbeo.com if you want to join the mailing list for volunteer events.

Naming Competition – Deadline extended to Mon 4th Oct!

Are you good with words?   We need your help!   We are looking for a catchy, memorable, name for our newly revamped education programme which will connect communities with the natural, built and cultural heritage of their place and help them plan an action to enhance their place.   We have worked with Burren schools and communities with great success under our Áitbheo (living place) programme and now, in partnership with the Heritage Council, we are ready to go national! You can help us by suggesting the perfect name for this initiative and be in with the chance to win a €250 voucher to spend at any of our Burrenbeo Business Members outlets.

Áitbheo Primary and Secondary

Áitbheo Primary course, Burrenbeo’s place-based learning programme for primary school children, will be kicking off next week.   The course will be delivered to National Schools in Ennistymon, Inagh and Kinvara.
The Áitbheo Programme helps students investigate the natural, cultural and built heritage of their local place and take action in looking after it.

Burrenbeo’s Monthly Members’ Walks

Our October Members’ Walk will have forest ecologist Janice Fuller lead a woodland walk in the Corrofin- Ruan area.   All places are now filled for this walk.

A pre-booking system applies to all our monthly walks and booking information for the November walk will be emailed to members.

For information on ongoing community initiatives and events, please scroll down on the Community News and Events page

Burrenbeo Business Members’ News in brief:

Burren Yoga & Meditation Centre have completed the building of the new yoga retreat centre which has en-suite bedrooms, dedicated massage therapy rooms and a new yoga studio with stunning views over the Burren hills.
The Burren Farm Experience have a special event on Sunday October 24th.  A magical morning immersed in nature, food, foraging and fun in the heart of the Burren.
The Burren Perfumery Tearooms remains open in October 10.30am-5pm every day and they are also starting their mail order and in shop Christmas gifts from Friday October 8th.
Doolin Ferry company have a brand new product, a high speed 10 person rib that can be hired for 1 hour or an entire day to suit your itinerary.

For full information on our Business Members’ News and Events, please click here.

Support Burrenbeo’s Business friends

We encourage you to support those who support us!  Find the full list of our Business Friends or check them out in the image below.

Burrenbeo Trust is a landscape charity that does not receive any core funding.  We work hard to sustain our 25 plus programmes each year, connecting people with place and their role in caring for them.  There are many ways you can support us.