Dúlra

17/07/2026

The Dúlra Project will be featured on RTÉ Radio 1’s CountryWide tomorrow, speaking with Philip Boucher-Hayes about the project, our work controlling invasive species across Connemara, and the wool-based prototypes we have been developing for bog restoration since 2022, along with plenty more.
It was a pleasure, as always, to chat with Philip and to have the opportunity to talk about the work of the Dúlra team, the communities and landowners involved, and the potential to create practical, nature-based uses for Irish wool.
We hope people will find the interview of interest.

16/07/2026

30/06/2026

Isn't our Colm looking well?
Great farmer and a great ambassador for the Dúlra Project.
Well done Colm.

Meet Colm!

Colm Gavin is the 8th generation of his family to earn a living from land situated in a Special Area of Conversation on the Mayo/Galway border near Doo Lough. Colm is a part-time sheep farmer, heavily involved in community work. He is currently employed by FORUM Connemara CLG on the Dúlra project helping to mobilise local farmers in conservation and peatland restoration activities.

The farm consists of 75ha of private land and 100ha of commonage. Commonage is a common ownership model in upland areas in Ireland. “In my case I have a ¼ share in the commonage and we all have an equal say in the management of that commonage. Across the valley there are 60 shareholders and they all have the same say. We’re quite lucky that the four of us are active farmers on the hills and we all get on. It does help that one of them is my brother, one is my father, and our poor old neighbour has to deal with us,” he says smiling. “My farm is a family farm, but it is also surrounded by my family’s farms as well, if that makes sense.”

Besides sheep farming, Colm is exploring other revenue streams for the farm and is keen to invite the public onto his land. Colm is quite progressive in his thought processes around farming on marginal land. “I host Wild Atlantic Nature on their open days, and ACRES, when their staff have training days. I host my own open days as well so that people can see what I have done on the farm. It’s to show that you can do things with nature in mind and still farm productively but also think about what production means. Production isn’t just meat, it’s about water, carbon, the public good and even aesthetics. All if this is production but we only get paid for producing protein. It’s about getting people's heads around these concepts and showing them what I think about this.”

Colm cares deeply about where he comes from and wants his community to thrive in the future. He believes that upland farmers will play an important role in the future management of biodiversity. Invasive species like Rhododendron and Millenia become a serious problem for native species where land is not under careful stewardship. “With people on the ground visiting their land almost daily, they can focus on an emerging problem and manage it with grazing or whatever,” he says.

To read more about Colms story see https://capnetworkireland.pulse.ly/7mxu679us4

27/06/2026

Dúlra at Climate Cocktail Club Galway

Last night, Dúlra Project Manager, Sinéad Grimes, spoke at the Climate Cocktail Club Galway about community-led restoration in Connemara and Mayo.
Sinéad shared how Dúlra is tackling invasive species, restoring peatlands, building local skills and showing how climate and biodiversity action can be rooted in local people and places.
A key message from the evening was that restoration is not just reports and plans. It is about the local capacity, trust, skills and commitment needed to deliver them.

Thank you to Melanie and the Climate Cocktail Club team for the invitation, and to everyone who came along and showed such interest in the work.

Galway Climate Inspirations Festival

13/06/2026

11/06/2026

𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐝𝐞𝐧
The Dúlra team recently carried out gravel maintenance works on the Owenglin River in Clifden, in partnership with the Clifden Trout Anglers.
The work involved carefully moving built-up gravel further downstream to help improve fish passage in the river.
By reducing barriers to movement, adult salmon returning to spawn can move more easily upstream, while young fish moving downstream have a clearer route through the river system.
This reduces the risk of predation by making the fish less vulnerable where they might otherwise slow or become trapped.
This type of small, practical river maintenance can make a real difference.
It helps support the natural movement of the salmon, improves access to spawning areas.
Healthy rivers need care, attention and local knowledge, and we were delighted to support the Clifden Trout Anglers with this important work on the Owenglin.

09/06/2026

If ye have not seen it the "Wild Conamara" program by RTE was stunning - The Dúlra team are on it for 3 minutes in Part 2 - makes you proud to be protecting such beautiful landscapes.
Eoin is the Irish David Attenborough!
Huge credit to John Murray, Crossing the Line, who wrote, directed and produced as well as shot a lot of the footage!

Eoin Warner heads inland on his wild Conamara journey, crossing vast boglands to the highest of the 12 Bens, Binn Bhán, featuring Red Deer rutting and wild Salmon coming home. Watch Wild Conamara S01E02 on RTÉ Player for free

31/05/2026

We’re delighted that the Dúlra Project features in RTÉ’s new documentary series Wild Conamara, which begins this Sunday, May 31st at 6.30pm on RTÉ One.

In episode two, which will air next Sunday, the series filmed the team and spoke to Project Manager, Sinéad Grimes, and Project Ecologist, Conor Ryan, who highlight our work across the Connemara landscape to tackle the spread of rhododendron, one of the biggest threats to our native habitats, bogs, woodlands and wildlife. It is great to see this work recognised as part of the wider story of Connemara’s wild places and the people working to protect them.

A huge thanks to Crossing the Line Productions for including the Dúlra Project in this beautiful series and for helping to tell the story of the work happening on the ground to protect Connemara’s wild places.

Presented by Galway-based Eoin Warner, Wild Conamara takes viewers on a journey from Connemara’s islands and Atlantic coast to the summit of Binn Bhán, exploring the wildlife, habitats and communities that make this landscape so special.

We’re really looking forward to seeing Connemara’s wild landscape, and the work being done to protect it, brought to a national audience.

Wild Conamara begins on RTÉ One this Sunday, May 31st at 6.30pm

26/05/2026

Spare a thought for the Dúlra team… forced to put up with views like this as part of the day job 😅

Not a bad office, in fairness!

Behind the scenery though is serious work, long days in tough terrain across blanket bog, heath, fen and upland commonage, tackling the spread of Rhododendron ponticum across some of our most sensitive landscapes.

Huge credit to the team for the quality of work they continue to deliver in difficult conditions and often in places few people ever get to see.

Days like this do help ☀️

25/05/2026

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐖𝐫𝐚𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔
From Ash to Zebra Mussels, we have travelled through an A–Z of biodiversity across Ireland’s landscapes, habitats and species.
Over the past days we explored ancient woodlands, pollinators, peatlands, fungi, uplands, invasive species, soils, seas, wool innovation and the countless connections that hold ecosystems together.

One of the biggest lessons from biodiversity is that nothing exists in isolation. Healthy landscapes depend on relationships, between species, water, soil, climate and people.

At Dúlra, we believe biodiversity is not something distant or abstract. It is all around us, in hedgerows, bogs, grasslands, coastlines, rivers and farms. It lives in local knowledge, traditional practices and the communities working to care for these places every day.

Thank you to everyone who followed along, shared posts, commented and supported the series throughout National Biodiversity Week.
We hope these posts encouraged people to look a little closer at the natural world around them and to recognise that even small actions can help protect biodiversity for future generations.

Go raibh míle maith agaibh.

Find out more:
🌿 The Dúlra Project:
https://www.dulraproject.com/

🌿 National Biodiversity Data Centre:
https://biodiversityireland.ie/