ANTRIM: FAUNA AND FLORA
ANTRIM'S FLOWER
The Harebell (Campanula rotundifolia) is the flower of County Antrim. It is also known as the ‘Cuckoo’s Shoe’, ‘Witch Bells’ and ‘Old Man’s B’ell’ – the ‘old man’ being the devil himself! It is a fairy plant, mearacan puca, the goblin’s thimble in County Antrim. Don’t be fooled by Its hanging blue bells on slender stalks as it is incredibly tough and resilient It is a wild flower of dry, open places from the bare slopes of hills to the windswept coast.
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WONDERFUL WANDER
The walk celebrates Belfast City Council parks as the lungs of our city, as shared-spaces to be enjoyed in a healthy way rather than as magnets for anti-social behaviour. 4 Corners Festival committee members Rev David Campton and Jim Deeds “walk the walk” along an interesting, circuitous route from Ormeau and Botanic parks to City Hall, recording their thoughts and the sounds for a podcast that will be available on-line. They converse about ideas around ecology and the environment raised by the likes of David Dark, Mary Power, Wendell Berry and Pope Francis.
THE SNOWDROP GROUP
A baby loss support group is hoping to create a special remembrance garden in a Belfast park.The Snowdrop Group, has asked Belfast City Council if it would be able to create a snowdrop garden in a public park in Belfast where parents and families would be able to go and remember their babies. It is also hoping that the park could be used as the start and finishing point of an annual ‘Snowdrop Walk’ and other events.
THE TWELVE APOSTLES
The Twelve Apostles is the remarkable name for a group of trees just off the Belfast Road in Crumlin, Parkfield. It is a group of extra tall limes planted in a circle, somewhat of a puzzle as there are 14 of them.
THE LONG-HEADED POPPY
The Long-headed Poppy, Papaver dubium is found in abundance in sandy fields along the coast from late June until September. The long-headed poppy is not the Remembrance Day poppy. The latter is much less common in Northern Ireland.
THE FRIAR'S BUSH
The Friar’s Bush is located in the Friar’s Bush graveyard, Belfast. It is an old reclining hawthorn, Cretaegus mongyne, at the end of the path into the graveyard. Catholics gathered there in secret to celebrate mass which was banned under the penal laws during the 18th century. The ancient burial ground, with its distinctive entrance building is next to the Ulster Museum. The site contains the mass graves of hundreds of people who died during the cholera epidemic of the 1830s and the famine of the 1940s. They were buried under a mound known as Plaguey Hill inside the main gates. The Irish Government presented the trustees of the graveyard with a special plaque in 1995 highlighting its role as Belfast’s official famine site. There is an interesting account of the history of the Friar’s Bush possibly going back to the Neolithic Age.
SHANE'S CASTLE GIANT
Shane’s Castle near Randalstown in County Antrim is home to one of the oldest and biggest great oak trees in Northern Ireland. This giant of an oak tree stands near the shore of Lough Neagh. The castle is used extensively in the TV series Game of Thrones.
PUFFINS ON RATHLIN ISLAND
Puffins return to Rathlin a day early – or were they right on time? For the last three years the first puffins have landed on 27 March, this leap year they touched down on the 26 March 2020.
DOLPHINS OFF THE ANTRIM COAST
Dolphins have been observed in the area around Rathlin, Ballycastle and along the Causeway Coast as far as Lough Foyle. They can travel at over 30 miles per hour meaning they can be in Ballycastle, County Antrim, and in Port Ellen, Scotland, within an hour.
PORTGLENONE FOREST
Portglenone Forest is a beautiful ancient woodland bordering the River Bann. The ground flora contains extensive colonies of ancient woodland indicator species such as bluebell, wood anenome and wild garlic. These plants take centuries of woodland cover to grow.
DIARY OF A YOUNG NATURALIST
Dara McAnulty, teenage writer and naturalist shares his love for nature and the way he sees the world in his book ‘Diary of a Young Naturalist’. Diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome at five and experiencing bullying, his intense connection with nature became a life line. He began his love of nature by collecting feathers from his garden in Belfast. His book, recordings and blogs share a year in his life with the natural world in Northern Ireland.
GARDENERS' QUESTION TIME BELFAST
Eric Robson and the horticultural panel visit the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum near Belfast. Bob Flowerdew, Bunny Guinness and Matthew Wilson answer the questions from the audience. The panel offers advice on the prevention of onion rot after harvest and sweetcorn varieties for the best crop, and suggest the best flowers to plant in a cutting garden. Neil Porteous discovers plants to maximise autumn colour in your garden.
GARDENERS' QUESTION TIME COUNTY ANTRIM
Eric Robson hosts the programme from County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Matt Biggs, Bob Flowerdew and James Wong answer questions from Antrim Castle Gardens. Matt Biggs explores the folklore of the Shamrock Garden at Mount Stewart – and there’s the ultimate guide to maintaining a cut flower border.
ANTRIM SEAWEED
Hugh Collins most certainly has his finger on the dulse in his article about the resurgence in popularity of eating seaweed from the North Antrim coast.
Salt, Pepper… and Seaweed?
THE RABBIT CATCHER OF BELLARENA
Stephen McGonigal talks about the history of rabbits at Magilligan. From the radio programme: YOUR PLACE AND MINE
(5 minutes)
CLOSED COUNTRY: CHANGING SEASONS
The signs of spring are everywhere, transforming our gardens and fields with splashes of colour and signs of new life. Unable to travel to explore new locations and landscapes as she normally would for Open Country, Helen Mark takes a walk around her own family farm on the edges of Lough Foyle in Northern Ireland, spotting the signs of seasonal change. She talks to wildlife experts and local farmers, finding out how the rhythm of the seasons affects their relationship with the land.
OPEN COUNTRY (24 minutes)
GLENARIFF FOREST PARK
Glenariff Forest Park covers over 1000 hectares with woodland, lakes and conservation areas. It is home to many animals of conversation concern including the hen harrier, Irish hare and red squirrel. The Glenariff Waterfalls winds through Glenariff Nature Reserve. The rocky gorges of the river support a wide range of mosses, liverworts and ferns.
REA'S WOOD
Rea’s Wood stretches for one mile along the shores of Lough Neagh and is a fine example of a wet woodland, dominated by alder, willow and birch trees. The rich vegetated woodland floor provides ideal habitat for many plants rare invertebrates. Through mossy alder trees are rich swampy areas with sedges, marsh marigold, tall yellow flags and the rare and beautiful summer snowflake. The robin, wren, blackbird, chiffchaff, blackcap and willow warbler contribute to the rich and varied melodious birdsong.
CAVE HILL COUNTRY PARK
Cave Hill Country Park gets its name from five caves, which could be early iron mines, located on the side of the main Belfast cliffs. The park’s natural attractions include heath and moorland on top of the hill itself, the meadows and Milewater Stream in Carr’s Glen Linear Park, the woodlands of Hazelwood and the beautiful surroundings of Belfast Castle Estate. The area is rich in birds and wild plants with the land at Ballyhagan and Hazelwood designated as a local nature reserve.
TOOME CANAL
The walk along the banks of the Toome Canal provides panoramic views over the shores of Lough Neagh, the largest freshwater lake in Britain and Ireland. The lough is home to many eels. They spawn in the Sargasso Sea between Bermuda and Florida, and after three years eel larvae develop into small eels and become strong enough to swim north with the Gulf Stream towards the rivers and lakes of Europe. They enter Lough Neagh through the Lower Bann and spend eight years in the lough and its rivers before reaching maturity at which point they begin their 4,000 mile journey back to their spawning grounds.
NORTHERN COLLETES BEES
Northern Colletes bees are classified as rare. Up to 50% of the European population is concentrated in the UK specifically in the North Coast of Northern Ireland and the Scottish western isles. A sighting of the bee was reported by volunteer butterfly surveyor, Patrick Barton at White Park Bay, near Ballycastle. Giant’s Causeway conservation expert, Dr Cliff Henry, agreed that increased bee sightings are encouraging especially as bee populations are reported to be in decline.
HARE'S TAIL COTTONGRASS
Eriophorum vaginatum, the hare’s tail cottongrass is a species of perennial herbaceous flowering plant in the sedge family Cyperaceae. It is native to bogs and other acidic wetlands and can be found in places such as Garry Bog and Slieveanorra and Croaghan Bogland. The hare’s tail cottongrass is a 30–60 cm high tussock-forming plant, with extremely narrow almost hair-like leaves and solitary spikes.
SLIEVEANORRA AND CROAGHAN
Slieveanorra and Croaghan is an area of largely intact blanket bog peat that lies like a blanket over the hill. It also incorportates a nature reserve. Plants and grasses include spagnum, bog bean, asphodel, round leaved sundew, great sundew, cross leaved heath, heather, hare’s tail cotton grass, crowberry and bilberry. Birds to be seen include merlin, hen harrier, snipe, skylark and raven. Common lizards have also been spotted. The Croaghan way provides two self guided circular trails namely the Milbern Walk and the longer Breen Walk.
GARRY BOG
Garry Bog situated in Balleymoney, County Antrim is one of the largest areas of lowland raised bog in Northern Ireland. There is a wide range of grasses and plants including cross-leaved heath, deergrass and cotton grass. Within the dome of the bog there are many typical rare plant species one of which is the nationally rare sphagnum pulchrum. Other plants and species include bog asphodel, whitebeak sedge, sundews and white-tailed bumble bees.
THE MERLIN
The merlin is the smallest falcon found breeding in Northern Ireland and has been spotted at the Sleiveanorra and Croaghan Bog. It is a powerful, feisty bird with short pointed wings and a dashing flight. Generally dark and streaky, the adult male is blue-grey while the adult female is browner. The merlin is an upland breeder of heather moorland with its favoured prey being meadow pipit, small birds and moths.
PARADISE ALLEY, BELFAST
Kathy Clugston chairs this week’s horticultural panel show, with Bunny Guinness, Matthew Wilson and James Wong answering questions from green-fingered listeners. Kathy visits an alleyway in Belfast with a community who has discovered gardening and has transformed their space during lockdown. Fast-forward 15 minutes for the visit to Paradise Alley.
PARADISE ALLEY (42 minutes)
A TOUCH OF FRANCE IN ANTRIM
Diarmuid Gavin helps design a garden for Nichola McGregor in County Antrim, who wants to bring a bit of France to her garden in memory of her late partner. He also invites us into his own garden paradise, encouraging everyone across the country to get gardening together.
BELFAST HAPPY PALLETS
A Belfast couple are turning old and unused pallets of wood into special creations honouring the city’s most famous landmarks. Emily Lamey and Ryan Dornan have launched Happy Pallet Co. They create planters designed to look like Harland and Wolff’s iconic Samson and Goliath cranes. All of the planters are made from 100 percent recycled wood.
ANTRIM GARDENING TOGETHER
Diarmuid Gavin invites us into his own garden paradise, encouraging everyone across the country to get gardening together. He offers advice for gardeners with a bit of help from Mount Stewart head gardener Neil Porteous.
A CARRYIN' STREAM
From 9- to 90-year-olds, the people of a County Antrim village help Bafta award-winning director Alison Millar explore the real meaning of creativity and culture. Returning to the landscape of her childhood, Cullybackey, she uncovers the story of a visionary teacher, and celebrates the extraordinary artwork and writing created by poor country children almost a century ago. Across the seasons Alison follows the Carryin’ Stream of memory.
GARDEN ORGANIC
Garden Organic is a charity that brings together thousands of people who share a common belief that organic growing is essential for a healthy and sustainable world. Through campaigning, advice, community work and research, the aim is to get everyone growing ‘the organic way’. Organic tips of the month, newsletters, articles and growing advice to create a much better environment – for our families, plants and wildlife.
BEAUTIFUL ANTRIM COAST
Four-time Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah is impressed with the beautiful Antrim Coast Half Marathon route. The route takes in many prominent landmarks and stunning scenery including the iconic Antrim Coast landscape used extensively in HBO’s Game of Thrones and turning homeward bound by Ballygally Castle.
Dúlra
Gearóid Ó Muilleoir, pen name Dúlra, is a wildlife buff who was brought up on the slopes of Belfast’s Black Mountain where he spent almost every waking moment hillwalking, birdwatching and fishing. Outside of the environment, his other passion is the Irish language and he’s a regular on award-winning Belfast station Raidió Fáilte.
Falls Road Witness Trees
Gerry Adams pays tribute to the Falls Road Witness Trees. ‘From the Rising to Partition to the hunger strikes to the Good Friday Agreement and all the thousands of marches and rallies and demos and funerals and shootings and explosions and Féile an Phobail carnivals. All the good, sad, angry, happy, proud, confusing events of their time. That’s what Witness Trees do. They stand witness and provide connections to times outside of our mere human lifespan’.
SLEMISH MOUNTAIN
Join the walk with Harvey up Slemish Mountain, Antrim Hills on St Patrick’s Day. Tradition has it that St Patrick was a shepherd on this mountain.
THE GLENS OF ANTRIM
Enjoy a wander through the history of The Glens of Antrim from it’s earliest times with the Historical Society’s own Dominic, Paul, Felix & Frank and trace the evolution of human habitation in The Glens from the Mesolithic era to present day. This little film features key landmarks in each of the nine glens and captures the charm of the area with some stunning music and photography.
CASTLE GARDENS LISBURN
Originally the site of Lisburn Castle, the Gardens were gifted in 1903 to Lisburn for use as a public park. The upper 19th century gardens and the 17th century terraces have recently been restored by Lisburn City Council, with grant aid from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
DINOSAUR REMAINS ISLANDMAGEE
Remains of two giant dinosaurs found on Islandmagee, a Peninsula on the East coast of County Antrim, have been unveiled by scientists. The dinosaur bones, which are the first ever found on the island of Ireland were discovered by the late Roger Byrne, a teacher and fossil collector, who donated them along with many other fossils to the Ulster Museum.
MY SECRET GARDEN
Liam Breandán de Frinse is one of Ireland’s most accomplished multimedia artists, distinguished principally as a painter, but also well-known as an installation artist and sculptor. In addition he is a performance poet and writer, and has been involved with television and art films. Liam reminisces about his apprenticeship in Harland and Wolff before he decided to become a full time artist. Realising he was ‘was born to be an artist’, he attended classes under the influential John Luke, the renowned Belfast artist.
BIN MEN TO THE RESCUE OF SWAN
A group of Belfast bin men together with Ligoniel resident Jaki O’Neill and neighbour Gavin came to the aid of an injured swan that had flown into a lamppost and reunited it with its mate in its usual home in Mill Dam.
ELEPHANT ANGEL
80 years ago in Belfast, a local woman, Denise Weston Austin the “elephant angel” kept a baby elephant in her backyard during the Second World War. She rescued the calf from Belfast Zoo and kept it at her home on the Whitewell Road in the north of the city in the midst of the bombing by the Luftwaffe in the 1941 blitz.
WOW: WINDOW ON WILDLIFE
Belfast’s Window on Wildlife (WOW) is home to birds and wildlife from all over the world. There are more than 100 species of birds and other wildlife to be found here, from lapwings and terns to konik ponies. Trained staff and volunteers will help you tell a wigeon from a teal.
THE BAY OF COWS
Grazing livestock have returned to ‘The Bay of Cows’, an inlet on the world-renowned Giant’s Causeway, for the first time in close to half a century. The National Trust initiative aims to boost populations of wildflowers and insects at the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Dexter cows, a traditional Irish breed have been chosen for their small size, hardiness and agility on the bay’s rocky slopes.
CURLEW LIVE NESTCAM
RSPB Northern Ireland has launched Curlew LIVE Nestcam Project. With more people than ever being connected to nature and the well-known psychological benefits of bird watching the first ever curlew live webcam has been launched. Funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, RSPB NI wants to encourage people to take a break from studying, home working or daily routine and take time to tune into nature.
WOODLAND NEEDS A NAME
The Woodland Trust’s new forest in the Belfast Hills needs a name – and they are asking the public to come up with it. It’s new Belfast site in Collinward borders Cave Hill Country Park and will link existing pathways through Divis and the Belfast Hills. Northern Ireland currently has the lowest tree cover in Europe – just 8% of which 4% are native trees and 0.04% ancient woodland. The Woodland Trust aims to create new native woodland for wildlife, people and the climate. Thanks to funding from Biffa Award, as part of the Landfill Communities Fund, and NIEA, the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity has taken ownership of the forest with plans to open the woodland to the public for free, once works are completed on site.
CREDIT WHITEHOUSE STUDIOS
EVEREST VIA SLEMISH
Northern Ireland cleric has begun an ‘Everest Expedition’ for a third time — while managing to stay close to home. Rather than attempting to conquer the world’s tallest mountain, Canon Stuart Lloyd will instead scale the County Antrim Mountain Slemish a staggering 50 times. There’ll be an extra ascent on the last day, bringing the Ballymena man to 30,000 feet, a little higher than the Himalayan peak’s 29,031.69 feet. The ‘Everest via Slemish’ project is being carried out to raise awareness and support for various mission organisations in Nepal.
GIANT CRANES RETURN TO IRELAND
After a 300-year absence, a pair of cranes arrived this year and settled in a former Bord na Móna bog in the midlands. They built a nest and laid their two eggs. Although the chicks hatched successfully they sadly both disappeared shortly afterwards. Ecologist Mark McCorry highlights the importance of the return of the cranes to Ireland “It shows that we are creating the right conditions in our rewetted peat lands for these magnificent creatures to thrive”. The crane lays its two eggs on the ground in a dry spot in a remote bog, which gives its Irish name corr mónadh.
CARNMONEY HILL
Carnmoney Hill has spectacular views of the city, Belfast Lough and the coast. There is a rich array of folklore and history, home to a wealth of wildlife, range of walks to suit all abilities and a mix of wetland, ancient woodland and floral grassland. Carnmoney Hill remains accessible whilst development works to the nature reserve take place.
Credit: Stephen Kind/ WTML
PORTMORE LOUGH
Visit Portmore Lough lowland, wet grassland reserve at any time of the year. It offers an open view across the Lough covering the wider landscape with opportunities to spot a range of seasonal wildlife including damselflies, dragonflies, butterflies, whooper swans, white skylarks, tern and greylag geese.
Credit: David Wootton (rspb-images.com)
BLACKBIRD OF BELFAST LOUGH
Lon Dubh Loch Lao, the Blackbird of Belfast Lough has helped to understand ogham script.
TURF SCULPTURE
The commission from Jake Mac Siacais for the West Belfast-based artist Farhad O’Neill has resulted in a sculpture created from 32 sods of turf, a piece of peat taken from every county in Ireland.
Dúlra: Sculpture from 32 sods of turf
ÉIGSE: Jake Mac Siacais with Farhad O’Neill and his sculpture, which is made of turf from all 32 counties (https://belfastmedia.com/dulra-the-heat-of-history-made-real)
W B YEATS-INSPIRED SCULPTURE
Inspired by WB Yeats’s poem Enwrought Light, poets, actors, writers and lovers of the written word will gather on Tuesday 6th September to unveil Conrad Shawcross’s artwork beside St Michael & All Angels Church, Bath Rd, Chiswick, London. This is the church where the Yeats family worshipped and some fifty yards from Yeats’s childhood home at the entrance to Chiswick’s Bedford Park. The WB Yeats Bedford Park Artwork Project, founded and led by local poet Cahal Dallat from Cushendall, Co. Antrim has been responsible for the entire process.
40-YEAR OLD MAPLE TREE REPRIEVE
The Housing Executive has conceded to Glenmeen, Close, Hannahstown, residents not to remove a 40-year-maple tree.
FORTY YEAR OLD MAPLE TREE RETRIEVE
Credit: https://belfastmedia.com/victory-for-hannahstown-residents-as-40-year-old-tree-saved-from-being-removed
NORTHERN IRELAND: FAUNA AND FLORA
WILD IRELAND
DOWN GARDENING TOGETHER
Diarmuid Gavin helps design a garden for Rachel Kelly in Drumbo, County Down who has an eyesore in the garden she wants to forget.
A GARDEN WITH A VIEW, DOWN
Diarmuid Gavin helps design a garden for the Montgomery family in Bainbridge, County Down. He also gives his mum’s Dublin balcony a new lease of life.
SPRINGWATCH COUNTY DOWN
Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust Castle Espie Wetland Centre in County Down was one of three live locations across the UK to host BBC Two’s popular wildlife programme Springwatch. Located on the shores of Strangford Lough Castle Espie Wetland Centre is home to over 60 acres of pristine wetland habitat filled with a range of wildlife including rare and under threat species.
LOUGHS: MYTHS AND LEGENDS
From fairies, banshees, kelpies, mermaids, giants and shape-shifters Irish mythology and legends transport you around five of Northern Ireland’s most famous Loughs into stories of imagined worlds of love and loss, death and redemption.
