The annual celebration of the Burren’s farming tradition of winter grazing returns this October with a range of cultural and networking events in Gort Town Hall and farm walks at various locations around the Burren.
At the heart of this celebration is the centuries-old practice where local farmers move their cattle to higher ground or to the winterages for the winter months. It is an inspiring example of sustainable farming – the continuation of which is also vital to the protection of the Burren’s renowned biodiversity and archaeological heritage.
Coordinated by local landscape charity The Burrenbeo Trust, this year’s festival features a Tea Talk on ‘An introduction to the Burren’s rich transhumance heritage’, Burren Winterage School on the theme of ‘Farming and Fire’, a ‘Hare’s Corner Conversations’ event for landowners who wish to take actions for biodiversity, the annual national ‘Farming for Nature’ gathering and awards, and a ‘Winterage Session’ of poetry, music and storytelling celebrating our farming heritage.
Two events that would be of interest to young families include; a mock archaeological excavation for children who wish to learn about digging for and recording artefacts on Saturday 28th Oct in Coole Park and Samhain Púca Storytelling Festival organised by and at the Michael Cusack centre on Sunday 29th Oct.
The flagship event of the weekend, the Community Cattle Drive where hundreds of people are invited to join a local farming family herding their cattle to the upland winterage pastures, will take place on Sunday 29th Oct in partnership with the Burren Food Fayre. The Burren Food Fayre, organised by the Burren Eco-tourism Network will offer a chance to all attendees to ‘taste the Burren’ through food samplings from some of the best of local food producers before and after their walk.
A free online event on Wednesday 25th Oct is also on offer in the form of a talk by Eugene Costello, lecturer at University College Cork, on the history of livestock grazing in uplands in Ireland and how it has brought about changes to habitats over time.
Áine Bird, Coordinator of the Burrenbeo Trust said, “The Winterage Weekend is a celebration of our agricultural heritage and the dedicated farmers who uphold these traditions in the present day. It provides an excellent opportunity for the entire community to come together and gain insight into the importance of farming in our region. Additionally, it allows people to consider potential steps they can take to preserve this heritage”.
Local farmer and community leader Michael Davoren said, ‘Transhumance or the seasonal movement of livestock is practiced all over the world and so the cattle drive is a beautiful way to connect with an ancient agricultural tradition that is local as well as global in nature. We are hugely grateful to Burren farmers Michael and Alice Shannon who are our hosts for this year’s Community Cattle Drive’.
The Burren Winterage Weekend and School is supported by The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and The Heritage Council. The Winterage Cattle Drive is supported by FBD Insurance.
Places are limited for all events and will require pre-booking. Discounts apply for Burrenbeo Members. More information available on www.burrenwinterage.com