7th July - Green Drinks The folklore of Irish Plants and Herbs

This month on Green Drinks Dublin Branch member Niall Mac Coitir spoke about the customs and stories about our native plants and flowers, including their herbal uses. Some of the plants he talked about included well-known 'weeds' or wild flowers such as dandelion, also known as 'piss-a-bed' because of its diuretic properties, and lesser celandine also known as 'pilewort' from the belief in its power to cure piles or haemorrhoids. Other folk uses included eating the young leaves of nettles, in broth or soup on account of their vitamins, and using the older leaves to sting those suffering from arthritis or rheumatism! Another interesting plant is meadowsweet, which was used to cure fevers, coughs and colds, and which contains salicylate, the same substance that is found in aspirin. 

A fact that emerged from the talk is that it is fair to say that practically every plant that grows wild  has some herbal use or other. A lively debate ensued, during which it was agreed that our native Irish plants a huge and nowadays neglected resource of cures and herbal remedies.

Prunella or self-heal, widely used in Irish folk medicine
to heal wounds, and in a tea as a pick-me-up

Lesser Celandine or pilewort

Meadowsweet

7th June - Ireland's Eye Trip

Saturday 7th June saw the Dublin Branch head for its regular trip to Ireland's Eye. A great turnout as usual and the weather stayed fine - lots of birds were seen, including various types of seagulls and gannets. John Fox led the way and gave the us benefit of his birding knowledge.

Unfortunately the trip on the 21st of June had to be cancelled due to an outbreak of fire on the island. Fire is an increasing hazard with our drier summers thanks to climate change, and can be avoided if simple precautions are taken. The government has issued a simple Fire Safety Guide for us all to bear in mind when out in wild areas.

Spot the chicks

June 2nd Green Drinks - Pollinators - why we need them

On Tuesday June 2nd the Dublin Green Drinks talk was by Dara Stanley of TCD Botany Department about how pollination by bees, hoverflies and other insects is being increasingly recognised as a important wildlife service with real economic value. However these services are being threatened by a range of human activity. Dara is involved in the SYMBIOSYS project which is looking at all these threats in Ireland and how our changing land use is impacting on our pollinators. Dara's talk was very interesting and received an enthusiastic response and a good turnout. Dara also passed on the following links which will be of interest to those wishing to pursue the topic further:

National Biodiversity Data Centre Irish pollinator initiative

http://pollinators.biodiversityireland.ie/


All Ireland Pollinator Plan

http://pollinators.biodiversityireland.ie/home/all-ireland-pollinator-plan-2015-2020/


Bumblebee Conservation Trust

http://bumblebeeconservation.org/


Count flowers for bees

https://www.facebook.com/countflowersforbees


Limerick’s buzzing

http://www.limericksbuzzing.ie/

May 23rd Biodiversity Walk St. Anne's Park, Raheny

On Saturday May 23rd the Dublin Branch celebrated Biodiversity Week 2015 with a walk in St. Anne's Park, Raheny with Dublin Branch member Niall Mac Coitir. The weather was bright and sunny and a there was a good turnout to hear Niall talk about some of our native trees, wild plants and birds - and some creepy crawlies too! Among the plants Niall showed the group was wild garlic, lords and ladies or cuckoo's pint, (Arum maculatum),  herb robert (used as a traditional cure to stanch bleeding), primroses and wild bluebells. Trees such as the yew, beech and hawthorn were also featured.

The walk took in the old pond to look at the ducks, and followed that with a visit to a wooded part of the park to see a heronry, and hear the little egrets make their strange bubbling or 'gobbling-like-a-turkey' calls. Finally an old log was turned over to see lots of woodlice, black beetles and centipedes scurrying about - a big hit with the small kids who were present!

Wild garlic with its pungent smell

Look mammy - creepy crawlies!

5th May Green Drinks - Abbeyleix Bog Project

On 5th May last the Dublin Branch of IWT heard about the Abbeyleix Bog project (ABP)  for its Green Drinks meeting in May. Chris Uys from the Projectoutlined how this innovative community project is saving a local bog for future generations. The ABP stemmed from a local action group known as AREA (Abbeyleix Residents for Environment Action) which was established in 2000 to conserve and protect the bog which was threatened with harvesting for peat moss. Following negotiations with Bord Na Móna a lease was signed in 2010 which handed the bog over to the local community to manage for a period of 50 years with a primary focus on conservation.

A huge amount of work has been done on the bog to date, blocking drains to rewet it, building a walkway so that people can enjoy the bog without damaging it, and removing invasive species like rhododendron. as a result the bog is regenerating and the number of species of wild plants and animals is rising all the time. According to Chris, local involvement is absolutely key to the project's success, with local people giving their time and energy to progress the bog's restoration as a local amenity. Truly an inspirational project!

Abbeyleix damsel fly

April 12th - Hedgerows in Ballyboughal

At our last ‘Green Drinks’ meeting on 7 April, Lorraine Bull raised our awareness of the importance of hedgerows for the farm land, for nature conservation and for biodiversity. On Sunday 12th April we were given the opportunity of taking a close look at plenty of hedgerows in Ballyboughal, where our excellent local guide, Ann Lynch, explained how these “living boundaries” work. We visited fields and meadows protected by a lovely mixture of trees, shrubs and a wide variety of other plants. Plenty of birds and early insects were spotted and an abundance of primroses and violets.

Beautiful Primroses

Primroses and Violets

And something a little more earthy!

29th March - Walk in Knocksink Woods

Knocksink Wood: it’s a knockout

On 29 March, despite unpromising weather conditions IWT Dublin Branch  had some thirty people for our guided tour through this wonderful nature reserve set in a river valley just outside Enniskerry. Sean Meehan gave us the benefit of his expert knowledge by identifying the various trees, shrubs and wildflowers of this mixed woodland. We were thrilled to see carpets of lush green wild garlic, white-flowering wood anemones, blue violets, yellow primroses and a curious red cup fungus from which the wood fairies drink. Sean stressed the importance of this reserve both nationally and internationally. He said, “Knocksink Wood contains two priority EU habitats; alluvial woodland and petrifying streams. Covering an area of approximately 80 hectares, it is a significant stand of broadleaf woodland, an all too rare habitat type in Ireland”. It is fantastic to think that we have this on the door step of our capital city. Thank you Sean for the excellent guidance.

 

A good turnout despite the weather

Wild garlic by a woodland stream

Red cup fungus

Sean with some red cup fungus