Blog

(Mon 20th May 2026) Biodiversity Week school tour by…

As part of National Biodiversity Week 2026, Shannon Town Community Wetlands hosted 7 school groups. Our second group, St Johns National School from Shannon and their teacher Rhinagh Stanford joined us at 11:30 on Mon 18th May.

The weather was showery so after gathering at the Wetlands sign our ecologist Rachel Dowling and Ruairí Ó Conchúir from LAWPRO took the students to shelter under our four oak trees where Rachel explained how such trees propogate and invited them to listen to the birds. Rachel then explained which birds they can currently hear, especially, the Willow Warbler and how the abundance of willows in the wetlands makes it so attractive to them.

The pupils were then led off to the ponds. Where Rachel explained the ecology of the two large ponds on our Wetlands site. Both currently have very low water levels and are covered in bull rushes which make great nesting material. However, willow saplings are starting to encroach into the ponds.

This was followed by a pond dip by Rachel. Where the students were invited to match the invertebrates to the pictures on the card. Rachel also explained the importance and life cycle of some of the pond life. This year we had plenty of tadpoles and larvae from dragonflies, damsel flies and may flies. Which are essential for the food chain.

To wrap up the 90 minutes visit, our chair, Olive Carey gave a talk about how the wetlands are run by and for the community and presented their teacher Rhinagh (Reena) with some biodiversity themed booklets for their school library.

(Mon 20th May 2026) Biodiversity Week school tour by…

As part of National Biodiversity Week 2026, Shannon Town Community Wetlands hosted 7 school groups.

Our first, Scoil na Maighdine Mhuire from Newmarket-on-Fergus and their teacher Eoin Guilfoyle joined us at 9:30 on Mon 18th May.

After a quick safety talk our ecologist Rachel Dowling explained what biodiversity is and took the students to stand under our four oak trees where she explained how such trees propogated.

She then passed a stick around as a microphone inviting the students to use it to introduce themselves and say which animal they like most.

They were then given clipboards listing some animals and plants in the Wetlands for them to find.

Rachel also explained which birds they can hear around them. Especially, the Willow Warbler and how the abundance of willows in the wetlands makes it so attractive to them.

The pupils were then off exploring to find the animals and plants listed on their clipboards..

Rachel also explained the ecology of the two large ponds on our Wetlands site. Both currently have very low water levels and are covered in bull rushes which make great nesting material. However, willow saplings are starting to encroach into the ponds.

This was followed by a pond dip by Rachel. Where the youngsters were invited to match the invertebrates to the pictures on the card. Rachel also explained the importance and life cycle of some.

This year we had plenty of tadpoles and larvae from dragonflies, damsel flies and may flies.

To wrap up the 90 minutes visit, our chair, Olive Carey gave a talk about how the wetlands are run by and for the community and presented their teacher Eoin with some biodiversity themed booklets for their school library.

Myself and John assisted on the day.

2026 World Wetlands Day

Celebrating 2026 World Wetlands Day on Bank Holiday Monday (2nd Feb) in Shannon Town. Walsh at 2:30 pm in Wetlands followed by talk and biscuits in Shannon Springs Hotel at 3:15 pm. All welcome.

(Fri 23rd May 2025) A few words in 360…

Micheál Mac Gearailt says a few words about Biodiversity Week at the Shannon Town Community Wetlands (Best viewed in YouTube app set to 2160s quality)

(Fri 23rd May 2025) A talk given to Cuimhneamh…

An enjoyable talk was given by Micheál Mac Gearailt to Cuimhneamh an Chláir (https://clarememories.ie/) today at 4 pm. The rain held off for us and we had a lovely discussion of the flora and fauna led by Micheál, who also played some related recordings of people discussing how things were in the past.

From their Facebook page: “Thank you to all who came out to our Biodiversity Week event in Shannon Town Community Wetlands, led by our cuairteoir Micheál Mac Gearailt, who is part of the wetland restoration project.
We learned about wetland fauna, the importance of oft-forgotten plants such as alder, willow and red clover in ecosystem generation. We listened to the stories from the archive about traditional plant uses and old farming practices, including lichen to dye clothes and the disappearing birds of our farmlands.
We then got mucky and explored the recently-dug ponds, filled with macroinvertebrates such as dragonfly nymphs and whirlygig beetles, as well as nascent colonies of newts and tadpoles that attest to the success of this project.
And finally, there was a treasure hunt for the young ones, to identify wetland flowers – with goodies to boot!”

(Fri 23rd May 2025) Clonmoney NS enjoyed a wetlands…

Another enjoyable workshop given by Micheál Mac Gearailt which the young people from Clonmony NS (https://clonmoneyns.com/) thoroughly enjoyed. We found the discarded skin of a large dragonfly nymph, a large water scorpion and mature newt and lots more!

(Weds 21st May 2025) St Tola’s NS enjoy a…

Great weather for an excellent workshop given by Micheál Mac Gearailt which the young people thoroughly enjoyed. https://www.tolasns.com/

(Mon 19th May 2025) A walk around the wetlands…

We have had 5 or more weeks or no rain and hot sunshine so the ponds are pretty low.

But great to see newts, mayfly and dragonfly nymphs thriving!

(Mon 19th May 2025) Wonderful school workshop for Ballycar…

The following text and photos are copied from their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/michael.o.flanagan.5

“Míle buíochas to Micheál Mac Gearailt, Tony Peter Walsh and Shannon Town Community Wetlands, a group who have restored a wetland habitat in the centre of Shannon town. The Senior pupils of Scoil Naísiúnta Baile Uí Chárthaigh engaged in a Wetland Ecology Workshop this morning as part of National Biodiversity Week which included a Plant and Flower Identification Game, a Bird Identification Game, Pond Dipping for Macroinvertebrates such as Dragonfly Larvae and a Leave no Trace Workshop. All activities were fun, interactive and educational with some small ecology related prizes provided by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. Thank you to Mr. Dillon for organising the trip and Amy for accompanying the group. Huge gratitude to parents and guardians for providing lifts to and from Shannon “

(Fri 16th May 2025) Preparing site for Biodiversity Week…

A few committee members gardened around the logs and paths in preparation for the biodiversity talks being held next week.