It’s relatively well known that before the arrival of humans, aproximately 9000 years ago Ireland was covered in mixed, broadleaf woodland. A huge amount of deforestation happened in the first few millennium as the human population became settled and these first Irish are often both credited and blamed for how the Irish landscape looks today,
When I was 12, nearly 13, I had a science project due; one of my first of secondary school. I loved forests so I decided to look at the effects of deforestation which led me to studies of Greenhouse Gases. It was 2004 and while people knew about “global warming”, it was not on the
Tis the season for good intentions, for setting goals and challenging yourself to be better. But I’ve been known to give quite a lot of side-eye to the whole idea of New Years Resolutions because I think that for the most part they are a trap. Once a year people try to solve all the
There are lots of things that make the transition between writing sometimes and being a quote-unquote “writer” but at least some of them are psychological. For years you consume “Top 10 Tips on Plotting Your Novel” and listen to TEDTalks but can’t see any marked improvement in the standard of your writing. Then one day
When the darkest days come we come together,
We may never know why happiness sets up apart but tragedy stretches out a hand and lips to kiss it better.
I’m sitting in my garden on a sunny day last summer, soaking in some much needed vitamin D and photographing bumblebees in a lavender bush. It’s not a bad way to relax. This is one of the photographs that I took. It ended up being one of the most popular I ever posted on Tumblr
Tell the bees that I have died, They used to say that if the hives weren’t told of a birth or death in the family they would leave the keeper, So there is no need to lie. Tell the bees I am no more, Bees in the house can be a sign of good luck
Urban gardens have had a new resurgence in fashion, adding to the list the many things that have become “millennial aesthetics” that are actually age-old reactions of populations to economic downturn and social change. In particular community gardens in Dublin have made a major comeback and the demand for allotments is higher than ever. The
Some of you may have gotten the impression that I have some opinions about bee conservation. So now I’m putting my money where my mouth is and getting a tattoo of Ireland’s most endangered bumblebee to raise funds for the Irish Wildlife Trust’s ‘People for Bees’ talks. But why the Great Yellow Bumblebee? While honeybees
The Irish Wildlife Trust runs lectures and workshops in local libraries and community centres around Ireland, teaching people about bees and what they can do to help them in their areas and in their own gardens. Tidy Towns committees have been vital in providing spaces for wildflower planting. I want to fund these talks and
