All About Cork: Douglas Tidy Towns event a breath of fresh air

A free event is set to take place in Douglas from 6pm-8pm this Thursday, May 23, as part of National Biodiversity Week.

Hosted by Douglas Tidy Towns and presented by local resident Dr Marica Cassarino of UCC as part of the BehaviAir project, the Clean Air Workshop is open to people of all ages, and children are welcome if supervised by an adult.

After meeting at Douglas Community Centre, attendees will be invited to take a walk in the Community Park (weather permitting) and discuss the links between air pollution, biodiversity, and health, as well as how our day-to-day activities may influence air quality in Douglas.

There will also be hands-on indoor activities to test a prototype system of air quality alerts for Cork to help the community protect and promote clean air for all people, animals, and plants.

Light refreshments will be provided. 

Register at Clean Air Workshop Douglas, or come along on Thursday evening.

Hot on the heels of that event, Saturday, May 25, will see volunteers descend on the Ballybrack Woods trail for Douglas Tidy Towns’ monthly work party.

Anyone with an hour or two to spare on Saturday morning is welcome to meet at 10am at Douglas Community Centre to join the team in helping maintain this much-loved local amenity, affectionately known as ‘The Mangala’.

Volunteers will be doing some general trail maintenance, path clearing, painting the two red bridges and other areas, litter-picking, and tending to the trees that were planted as part of the Flood Relief Scheme. 

There is always a fun, social element to the work parties, and no experience or equipment is required.

It’s certainly been a very busy few weeks for Douglas Tidy Towns.

Last Friday it hosted a fun evening exploring the fascinating world of bats, guided by Karen Loxton of Wild Work. 

Three different species of bats — soprano and common pipistrelle and Leisler’s Bat — were seen or heard, and videos can be seen on the Douglas Tidy Towns Facebook page. If you missed out this time, don’t worry — another ‘bat walk’ is planned for Heritage Week in August.

Last week also saw volunteers from MVCI Services, based in Cork Airport, join some Tidy Towns volunteers to weed an area of the East Village which was planted last year.

Douglas Tidy Towns’ first-ever car boot sale, held on the last Sunday in April as part of National Spring Clean, was a massive success. 

Featuring traders and local residents alike, the festive atmosphere attracted hundreds of locals to the Douglas Community Park, raising hundreds of euro for Douglas Meals on Wheels, Douglas Community Association, and Douglas Tidy Towns.

April’s work party had volunteers busy developing the group’s ongoing East Village Landscaping Project. As noted by a Tidy Towns competition judge in 2022, the East Village Road had been a neglected area for some time, even becoming a magnet for illegal dumping. 

Since then, it has been reinvigorated by Douglas Tidy Towns, who worked with local management services company Abtran in removing litter, pruning, planting, and spreading of mulch, culminating in the planting of filling of nocturnal pollinator garden planters, expertly made by the local Douglas Men’s Shed.

Successful Fleadh Cheoil Chorcaí held at Douglas

The Cork County Fleadh Cheoil is the annual premier comhaltas event in the county in any given year.

This year Comhaltas na Dúglaise had the honour and responsibility of organising and running the fleadh. They had an abundance of willing volunteers available from early last Saturday morning until last Sunday night, for both indoor and outdoor events.

Competitors and their families arrived early to Douglas Community School and Gaelscoil na Dúglasie. The numbers competing was up on last year and the attendance was also up. All in attendance were full of praise for Comhaltas na Dúglaise including the adjudicators.

The County Fleadh committee is grateful to their main sponsors Cork City Council, Douglas Village Shopping Centre and Cork Airport for their generous financial support.

They wish to thank the National Comhaltas organisation for the Meitheal grant, Munster Council and the Cork Comhaltas branches who made contributions, Cork City Councillors for their support with ward funds and all who took out advertisements in the programme.

A night of appreciation was held for all the volunteers at Nemo Rangers last Saturday night. Now that the fleadh is over comhaltas throughout the county congratulates all the winners and are looking forward to supporting them at the Munster Fleadh Cheoil in Thurles from July 17 to 20.

Comhaltas Comhaltas na Dúglaise had success in several competitions and the following competitors now go forward to the Munster Fleadh Cheoil.

The following are the Douglas branch members results: Olivia Lowell, frist fiddle over 18; Siún Morrissey, third recommended in tin whistle U12-15.

Siún Morrissey, Ethan Armitage, Alannah Clancy McGing and Adam Senior all got a recall in the whistle U12-15. Caitriona Curtin got second place in concertina and whistle over 18 and also third in whistle slow airs. Pádraig Fitzgibbon was placed third in banjo U12; Liam Kennedy got first place in amhránaiocht fir over 18 and second place in the mandolin. In duets over 18 Ruby Falvey (Douglas) and Grainne Ahern (Youghal) came sedond and Helen Manning and Aishling Breathnach came third. Helen Manning, Tomás Walsh and Aisling Breathnach got third in trio over 8. Douglas got first place in grúpa cheoil over 18 and in céilí band over 18.

English singing men: First, Barry Tierney; second Michael Whyte and third Jerome Maume. Barry Tierney came third in newly composed song in English. Whistling: Aisling Allan, second and Tim O’Sullivan, third. Tim O’Sullivan also got second place in the lilting, bodhrán and melodeon and third in miscellaneous. 

Hand céilí dancing U18 Lucie Sheehan, Caoimhe O’Mahony, Jessica Callanan and Róisín Murphy. Róisín Breathnach qualified for Munster in the Comhrá Gaeilge U9-11 and Roisín Ní Nuanáin in the U15-17. Fionán de Cógáin was placed third in the storytelling over 18. There were many other competitors and two Grúpa Cheoil 12-15 an 15-18 who performed extremely well but the competition was extremely tought.

Have Douglas news you want to share? Contact Rory Noonan.