Heritage in Schools (2005)
by
Ted Cook (Heritage In Schools)
This
Primary School Project is co-funded by the INTO
and the Heritage Council, with matched
contributions by each Primary School. €75
represents the school’s contribution for a full
days visit by the Heritage Specialist.
During
2004 and 2005 both Kilbarry and Inchigeela Schools visited the Gearagh to expand the
school’s knowledge of this very important
environment and to grasp the growing need for
clean, renewable and sustainable energy.
Our
visit in 2004 was intended to mark the 50th
Anniversary of the
Lee
Valley hydro-electric
scheme and to evaluate the impacts on the
Gearagh’s Ancient post glacial wooded alluvial
plain by the project. We also wished to identify
both the resident wild plants and bird species.
Some birds migrate from Canada, Greenland,
Scandinavia,
Russia and Africa. Photo 1 records Ms Teresa Downey’s Class and Photo
2 records us sketching the still life of swans
and decaying oak stumps.
Inchigeelagh School group
(Photo 3) spent a half day in May time 2005,
identifying the early flora and lichens together
with the hydrological functions of the Great
Flood Plain. The Gearagh is unique in
Western Europe and is one of only
three types of UN Ramsar Wetland on Earth.
Wildlife
Need Their Wilderness – and so do we.