News – Page 3 – Maigue Rivers Trust

Discovering and sharing the heritage of the Maigue rivers through photography

August 12, 2020 MRT Admin Leave a comment

For National Heritage Week 2020 (15-23 Aug), the Maigue Rivers Trust is inviting people living in the Maigue Catchment to take pictures of their local heritage, be it nature, built, crafts, skills, art, songs, and more. The Trust wants to give people a platform to share what they cherish with a broader audience, and the Trust wants to learn more about what we have here in the Maigue catchment. https://youtu.be/VMR0hApVuU4 How to take part: 1. Take a picture and share it on Facebook (make sure it is Public), Twitter or Instagram 2. Add the #MaigueRiver, #NationalHeritageWeek and name your river, e.g. Camoge, Morningstar, Loobagh, Grennagh, Clonshire, Barnakyle, Glashabui 3. Give a short explanation/story of what the picture depicts. 4. The most captivating picture will win a beautiful display of fishing flies from master craftsman and angler, Mike Quinlivan. For *Nature photography* In order to protect wildlife, never photograph..

Survey time!

August 7, 2020 MRT Admin Leave a comment

The Trust is currently in the process of applying for LEADER fund training opportunities and we need to consult with you, the people and communities. Currently, the Maigue is running two surveys that will run from 5th - 15th of August 2020. Survey 1. The Maigue Rivers Trust would like to organise wildlife-based training opportunities for individuals and communities living in or close to the Maigue Catchment. To find out what you are interested in, we would be very grateful if you could fill out this short survey (it will take you less than 5 minutes - possibly just 3 minutes - to fill it out). To get a broad opinion from as many people as possible, please share this post with your friends and family. Click here for the Survey 1 link. Survey 2. The Maigue Rivers Trust is also running a survey for tourism based businesses in the catchment. The Maigue Rivers Trust wants to collaborate with local tourism businesses to develop and..

Newsletter 3, 2019-2020

July 15, 2020 MRT Admin Leave a comment

Click here to read our third newsletter to find out what has been happening in the Maigue Rivers Trust for the past 12 months. Many thanks to our director, Catherine Dalton, for putting this newsletter..

Irish Rivers Trust Resilience Pilot Project

February 3, 2020 Rhiannon Laubach Leave a comment

On 30th November 2019, The Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO) and The Rivers Trust announced the Irish Rivers Trust Resilience Pilot Project. The Resilience Pilot Project will provide funding to two rivers trusts organisations including Maigue Rivers Trust to employ a project officer each for a period of three years. This project will aim to demonstrate the effectiveness of professionalising the rivers trust movement in Ireland in terms of delivering on the core objectives of Maigue Rivers Trust. We are looking for an enthusiastic, ambitious and self-motivated individual to become the first employee of Maigue Rivers Trust to help drive our aims and mission forward in what is an exciting and dynamic environmental movement. See the below project officer brief for further information on the role and details on how to apply for it. The closing date for receipt of applications is friday the 28th of February at 5pm. MRT Project..

Help Bring Back the Salmon to Limerick

September 9, 2019 Rhiannon Laubach Leave a comment

2019 is the International Year of the Salmon. Atlantic salmon return every year from the sea to spawn in our rivers and streams. Sadly, the numbers of salmon have been declining rapidly in recent years. Reasons for the decline are mainly commercial fishing at sea, climate change affecting the oceans, impact of salmon farms at sea, and poor water quality in our rivers and streams where the young salmon live before they go down to the sea to grow to adults. Because numbers are now so low, a ban on the killing of wild salmon has been introduced as a conservation measure in Limerick rivers and many other rivers in Ireland. In the region of only 1200 salmon now return to the River Maigue and its tributaries (Camoge, Loobagh and Morningstgar rivers ) each year, whereas at least ten times that number returned in the mid-1970s. The Drumcamoge River, a small headwater stream of the River Camoge, flows near the communities of..

The Status of Salmon in the River Maigue

August 29, 2019 Rhiannon Laubach Leave a comment

Historically, the Maigue was recognised as a salmon fishery. Up to the middle of the 17th century, there were at least seven head weirs in the Maigue estuary below Adare where salmon were taken. There were also two salmon weirs associated with the monastic settlements in Adare up to the dissolution of the monasteries (Went 1960). By the end of the 19th century, salmon runs had declined significantly, probably because of over fishing in the Shannon Estuary: “Let me direct your attention to the River Maigue, which flows into the Shannon estuary a few miles below Limerick. This was once a well-known salmon angling river, but according to the testimony of Mr. R., who was born on its banks, it has totally erased from people’s minds as a fishing stream owing to over-netting at its mouth and in the estuary, and consequent dearth of salmon. (A Salmon Fisher’s Revolt. A letter addressed by the Earl of Howth to the Irish Fisheries..

Citizen Science Investigations – river environmental stewardship (CSI-River)

July 15, 2019 Rhiannon Laubach Leave a comment

This interdisciplinary science-society project, CSI-River, will partner individual citizens, the Maigue Rivers Trust (MRT), and a Community Water Officer with a postgraduate researcher to support, motivate, jointly implement and measure environmental stewardship. The project is based on the fundamental concept that that our relationship to nature is ultimately shaped locally but has been underdeveloped in an Irish context. The PhD will, 1. Examine the socio-cultural context for citizen science (CS) and environmental monitoring, 2. Analyse a range of biodiversity and in-stream CS projects on a local scale and 3. Develop a template to mainstream CS in water quality monitoring. The project will use a mixture of natural and social sciences to bring together the knowledge and skills of lay-citizens and academics in field-based activities within a River Trust framework in a catchment which is ‘At Risk’. The project addresses..

The Cooperative Education Programme at the University of Limerick

June 25, 2019 Rhiannon Laubach Leave a comment

A University of Limerick BA (History) Eoghan Fitzgerald undertook his second year work placement with the Maigue from January to June 2019. The Cooperative Education programme (or undergraduate placement ) at the University of Limerick is a core element of all undergraduate degrees. Work undertaken by Eoghan for the trust included:Data mining historical newspaper articles and folklore material with relevance to the catchment, georeference historical river and corridor features (natural and artificial), collation of social and historical materials for exhibition, compile lists of schools and business to establish networks and to assist with social. Eoghan we would like to thank you for all your hard work over the past 6 months. If you are a 3rd level student who is interested in undertaking a work placement with the trust.You can contact us on..

Crayfish Plague in the Maigue Catchment

June 5, 2019 Rhiannon Laubach Leave a comment

Crayfish Plague is an invasive water mold that can causes 100% mortality in our native crayfish populations. It has unfortunately been recorded as being in the river Maigue Catchment. To prevent the spread, of crayfish plague it is important that you check, clean and dry any equipment such as boots, fishing rods and kayaking before and after using them on the..

Festival of Fun on the Maigue

May 30, 2019 Rhiannon Laubach Leave a comment

Join us for a family friendly festival of fun on the river Maigue on June the 15th in Croom town park. Activities on the day will include an outdoor classroom with Biodiversity Expert Geoff Hunt.The opportunity to learn more about fishing with fly tying and casting lessons in the park and a display of native fish by Inland Fisheries Ireland. There will also be a fun dog show, games, children rides, face painting and market..