Creators of the Eco Showboat expeditions in 2022 and 2023, Artists Anne Cleary and Denis Connolly aka School of Looking, are collaborating with The Shaking Bog Festival, Fighting Words Wicklow and The Refugee Council to increase awareness and understanding of fresh water biodiversity at the Liffey Head Bog this summer. The project, called Catchments 2025, has received a Research Ireland Discover Award. The Liffey Head Bog is one of the best examples of an actively growing mountain blanket bog in Ireland, and is a designated Special Area of Conservation (SAC). The artists will several days at the Liffey Head engaging in citizen science activities and making art with local teenagers and young adults from the refugee community.

Anne & Denis are on location at the Liffey Head to walk, talk and learn with Mary Kelly Quinn, Professor, Head Of School, School of Biology and Environmental Science at UCD and with  Andrea Webb, NPWS Park Ranger for the Liffey Head Bog. These conversations will result in a film to be screened later in the programme. 

PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME 

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CATCHMENTS 2025 is supported by Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland* Discover Award, Creative Ireland, the Department of Education, Wicklow County Council Arts Office and the UCD Earth Institute.

*Taighde Éireann – Research Ireland is the new national research and innovation funding agency, established on the 1st August 2024 through the amalgamation of the activities and functions of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and the Irish Research Council (IRC).

CATCHMENTS 2025 is supported  by the Creative Ireland Programme, an all-of-government five-year initiative, from 2023 to 2027, which places creativity at the centre of public policy. Further information from creativeireland.gov.ie.

The seven bodies of water we are studying in CATCHMENTS 2025:

  1. •The Liffey Head Bog in County Wicklow

  2. •The Dodder River in South Dublin County

  3. •The Boyne River in County Meath

  4. •Lough Muckno in County Monaghan

  5. •The ‘old’ River Shannon at University of Limerick

  6. •The Ballymacraven River at Ennistymon, Co. Clare

  7. •The Lee Fields by the Weir and the Old Cork Waterworks in Cork City

FINALE EVENT

Mermaid Arts Centre

(details tbc)

FIELD TRIP TO LIFFEY HEAD BOG

Irish Refugee Council Youth Group


Young adult refugees will visit the source of the Liiffey and restored parts of the raised bog to observe biodiversity and enjoy macrophotography with artists Anne Cleary & Denis Connolly.


NATURE WRITING WORKSHOP

Blessington Library, W91 RW83

A four day writing camp for 9 to 13 year olds inspired by the river source and the magnificent biodiversity that surrounds it the raised bog.


FIELD TRIP TO LIFFEY HEAD BOG

Participants in the Nature Writing Workshop will visit the source of the Liiffey and restored parts of the raised bog to observe biodiversity and enjoy macrophotography with artists Anne Cleary & Denis Connolly.


Both field trips to include the following activities:

Anne Cleary with Mary Kelly Quinn looking at macroinvertebbrates at the Liffey Head while filming ‘The Source’, 17 May 2025

 

The Liffey Head Bog

Anne & Denis discuss their winter 'recce' of seven water bodies across Ireland for CATCHMENTS 2025

NATURE SQUARED A combined nature survey and macrophotography workshop, “Nature Squared” uses a simple surveying tool known as a “quadrat”. This is a square frame that can be placed on site to delineate a small area to survey (ie. to investigate the abundance of plants and/or animals in a habitat). Cleary and Connolly will be working with participants to survey important species, document findings and contribute to important nature monitoring programmes by submitting data to the National Biodiversity Data Centre. Framing is also of essential importance to the art of photography and the same quadrat will be central to the macrophotography workshop studying biodiversity through the lens.https://vimeo.com/1091284463

  1. HAVE YOU SEEN THESE LADIES?*

  2. A nature walk and “treasure hunt” with Anne Cleary and Denis Connolly. 

  3. The National Biodiversity Data Centre are compiling a Ladybird Atlas 2025, gathering sightings of ladybirds all over Ireland to address a gap in our knowledge in the status of this important species. Native species are threatened by an invasive species, the Harlequin. During this relaxed walk join the artists in spotting and identifying ladybirds of all kinds, taking amazing macro photographs of these gorgeous creatures, and submitting the data to the NBDC to contribute to the important ongoing survey.  

 

  1. The biodiversity workshops will depend on seasonal, meteorological and site specific circumstances. They may include:


  3. BEE COUNTED!*

  4. Flower-Insect Timed Counts (FIT Counts) are a really useful way that people can help environmentalists monitor pollinators and contribute to the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan. 

  5. Using the same quadrats from Nature Squared, the team will count, photograph and video pollinators while recording the sounds of the different insects to create a “pollinator symphony” sound recording that will accompany the visual artworks. Data gathered will be submitted to national pollinator monitoring scheme.

Anne Cleary with NPWS Park Ranger Andrea Webb, looking at restoration works on the Liffey Head Bog, 17 May 2025

So called 'drowned kitten' sphagnum moss at the Liffey Head Bog.

The River Liffey rises in the Liffey Head Bog between the mountains of Kippure and Tonduff in the northern section of the Wicklow Mountains. This is a unique ecosystem, an actively forming blanket bog and a Special Area of Conservation, home to a variety of unusual plant species and protected birds. 

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JULY

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