Snowdrops arrive with impeccable timing to save us from winter desolation
It took Jimi Blake at Hunting Brook Gardens in Wicklow time to come around to the humble snowdrop, but he eventually saw the light
Nature
Articles related to nature
A supermodel sandpiper popped up on the Clare shore in December
Eye on Nature: Éanna Ní Lamhna on kelp, Bootlace Fungus and Pelican’s Foot Shells
Keep your front garden intact and other nature-based solutions to urban flood risks
Slowing the runoff from heavy downpours into struggling Victorian drainage systems in urban areas protects property and water quality
Endangered corncrake and coastlines focus of biodiversity grants worth more than €500,000
National Parks and Wildlife Service in partnership with Community Foundation Ireland funding 78 local area projects
Should I keep ducks as pest controllers in my garden?
Certain breeds are great at keeping down populations of slugs and snails, but they do need to be kept out of vulnerable areas
Where did this duck come from and why is it in Ireland?
Readers’ notes and queries for Éanna Ní Lamhna
‘I just booked a flight there one day’: From Wicklow to life in Ho Chi Minh city
‘It has a real life-affirming vibrancy that made sense to me...exactly what I was looking for,' says Cian Duggan in Vietnam
The Dublin half hectare that became a self-sustaining sanctuary for nature
Bequeathed to the nation, the Grove in Donnybrook has been a haven for plants and wildlife. The intention was to keep it that way
Is this big fella a common raven? He was very light on his feet
Eye on Nature: Eanna Ní Lamhna on roving ravens, sunbathing butterflies and spotted dogfish
The universal law of getting too hot
Life on a temperature roller coaster is getting more precarious
Have you any idea what this colourful fly is?
Eye on Nature: Eanna Ní Lamhna responds to your wildlife queries
The Silver River has been badly devalued but it could thrive again
A stretch of the Slieve Bloom river fails even minimal legal standards but other magnificent parts offer a glimpse of what could be
Saunas, cinemas and listening to albums: 25 ways to get off your phone
Get off your phone and out into the real world with this inspiring list of screen-free things to do in the year ahead
‘All forms of heritage connect children to their past and help them make sense of the present’
The Heritage in Schools scheme encourages children and teachers to investigate local heritage through place-based learning
‘I spotted this owl near my home in Co Kilkenny. What type of owl is it?’
Readers’ notes and queries for Éanna Ní Lamhna
Mary Reynolds: ‘My life is based around trying to remind people of what Ireland should look like’
Reynolds started the global movement We Are the ARK - or Acts of Restorative Kindness
Rejuvenating soils and nature through regenerative farming
Better productivity has come at expense of ecosystems but new and old practices show their vibrancy can be restored
This is a most excellent picture of a male jumping spider
Eye on Nature: Éanna Ní Lamhna on hot-house arachnids, blue mushrooms and boring beetles
The solution to tackling the climate crisis? We need everything
Wind, solar, green hydrogen - every scalable option shown to work at reasonable cost is required
There are happier and healthier countries than Ireland, but most aren’t
However awful the state of the world, more people are living longer, healthier and probably happier lives now than ever
Light pollution is surprisingly straightforward to fix when communities work together
A Co Mayo community has achieved results that are both visually striking and ecologically responsible
If you drink reindeer urine after they have eaten these red mushrooms, you’ll get high apparently
Eye on Nature: Eanna Ní Lamhna on flying reindeer, avian winter visitors and fossilised limestone
Advisers concerned by lack of funding commitment for nature restoration plan
Plan is to be published in draft form for public consultation early next year
Specimen of rare whale spotted off Donegal last year sighted almost 5,000km away near Boston
Scientists hail ‘very significant’ sighting of endangered right whale individual, recognisable from unique pattern of crustaceans on head
‘Is this what Ireland once looked like?’ Bison, wolves and nature itself roam free in Europe’s wildest forest
To understand what nature does in our absence, there can be few better opportunities than Białowieźa
Nature-loving types will tell you leaves are a gift. Don’t be fooled
They are piling up on the footpath, destroying the garden, sneaking into the house ... and always wet
Next spring these swans will be driven away by their formerly loving parents
Eanna Ní Lamhna on an extremely tiny plant feeder, a heated standoff on the Dodder and a rare presence in Wicklow
‘It was utterly sacred’: Manchán Magan’s widow on his final days, death and legacy
It is almost two months since Aisling Rogerson’s husband, the beloved writer and broadcaster, died of cancer
Medicinal properties of nature not to be underestimated
While being out and about is the ideal, even having and interacting with houseplants in the cooler season could be helpful
Glen of the Downs nature reserve could expand after NPWS acquires large parcel of forestry land
‘We hope to see the National Parks & Wildlife Service resourcing an ambitious native woodland restoration project,’ says Irish Wildlife Trust
Operator sought for eco-friendly guest accommodation at Avondale Forest Park
Coillte weighs development of up to 50 eco-sensitive cabins on grounds of historic Wicklow estate where Parnell was born
The stain on your fingers from the bleeding aphids will go after a few days
Éanna Ní Lamhna on the rarely seen great bittern, a very irritating caterpillar, and the beautiful green lacewing
Crosswords & Puzzles
Crosswords & puzzles to keep you challenged and entertained
Common Ground
How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands
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