In two special events this weekend Thoor Ballylee hosts a pollinator workshop and a musical theatre performance!

An Introduction to Ireland’s Wild Pollinator Species

Saturday 15 July 10.30 – 4.30; tickets EU50 by eventbrite or call 091631436

Áine Ní Fhlatharta hosts a workshop that will explore the impact that Ireland’s modern land use practices have had on our wild pollinator species – their decline, their regeneration and looking to the past for their future survival.

the importance of regenerating traditional land use practices for their future survival and the most beneficial actions for wild habitats and private gardens.
During the workshop we will look at the following:

The co-existence between indigenous wild plants and pollinator species and the vital role that flower-rich habitats such as meadows and semi-natural grasslands play in providing pollinator’s year-round requirements and what these requirements are for different pollinator species. How to become a citizen scientist and the role that citizen scientists play in assessing and tracking the conservation status of a species’ from year to year.

Practical outdoor sessions will include: pollinator identification in the field; identification of beneficial habitats; how to naturally regenerate semi-natural grasslands; identification of beneficial plant species; and how to monitor bumblebees and butterflies. 

Come Dance With Me In Ireland: A Pilgrimage to Yeats Country

Saturday 15 July 7.30; tickets EU15 via eventbrite or call 091631436

A solo musical theatre piece performed by Celtic Harpist & Storyteller Patrick Ball.

“Come Dance With Me In Ireland: A Pilgrimage to Yeats Country” is a musical and dramatic performance based on the life and works of Ireland’s greatest poet, William Butler Yeats.

It is the story of an elderly Irish couple who had emigrated to America early in their married life. The husband had always loved Yeats’s poetry and knew much of it by heart. But, now he is suffering severe memory loss, and even those beloved poems are leaving him. The wife has arranged for them to return to Ireland and go on a “Yeats Country” tour in hopes of recapturing, if only briefly, some of those swiftly fading memories. They visit the magical landscape of Inisfree, Thoor Ballylee, Glencar, Knocknarea, and Drumcliffe. They hear again some of Yeats’s most beautiful poems, The Lake Isle Of Innisfree, When You Are Old, The Song Of Wandering Aengus, The Host Of The Air, The Wild Swans At Coole…and their story unfolds. Patrick Ball plays an Irish wire-strung harp with genuine sensitivity and tells the story with panache.

Watch Patrick Ball rehearsing at Thoor Ballylee.