WALKINGGET YOUR walking boots ready for a bank-holiday weekend of festivals.
In Co Galway, the first Leenane Walking Festival features guided walks and events that will give visitors an opportunity to trek through the Connemara uplands, including Mweelrea and Leenane mountains.
The organisers are encouraging walkers to bring their children, as they are arranging action camps at Delphi and Killary adventure centres.
The €40 cost per adult includes qualified guides on every walk, with transport to and from the starting points, or a two-day adventure programme for children over eight.
See www.leenanevillage.com or call 095-43411.
In Co Clare, Ballyhoura International Walking Festival includes a night walk next Saturday that will teach participants how to navigate through wilderness in the dark.
It is also running a birds-of-prey walk with the Irish Raptor group. Participants should spot hen harriers and perigrine falcons.
See www.ballyhouracountry.com or call 063-91300.
• A travel-writing workshop takes place at the James Joyce Centre, in Dublin, on Saturday, May 17th. The €150 course will be led by Rory MacLean, author of Magic Bus: On the Hippy Trail, and Guardian writer Dea Birkett, who says the day is for those who want to turn a weekend in Galway, a fortnight in Malaga or a month-long trek across Nepal into really good writing. See www.travelwork shops.co.uk.