The North Clare based community group, the Restore Ballymacraven River Association, is delighted to announce details of the Ennistymon Rivers Festival 2026.
This family-friendly, 3-day festival, will take place over the May Bank Holiday weekend, running from Friday, 1st May to Sunday, 3rd May.
It will bring together locals, volunteers, visitors, and environmental champions, to celebrate the power of community and work to protect, restore and enhance local rivers across Ireland, with a focus on the Ennistymon area of North Clare.
The 2026 festival programme will showcase the positive impact of river restoration in the community, through a mix of environmental events, talks, workshops, guided walks, culture, art, and history related events, and music events.
The programme is tailored to cater to people of all ages, and will include some very exciting events, a guided nighttime bat-walk, kayaking on local rivers, and a dawn chorus walk along the Inagh and Ballymacraven rivers. Join the Restore Ballymacraven River Association (RBRA) in celebrating what makes the rivers of North Clare so special.
The Ennistymon Rivers Festival 2026 is being held, exactly three years on from a devastating fish kill on the Ballymacraven River, which occurred in May 2023. This event, which killed well over 2,000 fish, including Atlantic salmon, brown trout, and eels, of all age-classes, took place on a 2.6km stretch of the Ballymacraven River, and served as a reminder of the fragility of our natural environment.
It also sparked a collective community response by locals to protect and restore this river for future generations. Three years on, the Festival, offers an opportunity to celebrate the beauty of Irish rivers, and the positive work being undertaken by volunteers on their local rivers, reflecting the importance communities place on their natural environment.
Mr. Kevin Nunan, Chairperson of the RBRA, noted “the Ennistymon Rivers Festival 2026 is really a celebration of the progress we’ve made over the past two to three years in bringing the local community together to restore the Inagh and Ballymacraven rivers. The work completed to date to protect these rivers and local biodiversity has been amazing. We are working to ensure a sustainable future for generations to come.”
The festival promises to engage the entire family with highlights including expert talks and workshops on many aspects of river life and river ecosystems. The events are aimed at fostering community involvement in river restoration, biodiversity enhancement while raising local awareness.
Mr. Ruairí Ó Conchúir, Senior Community Water Officer, with the Local Authority Waters Programme (LAWPRO), and a local to the area, noted that “the Ennistymon Rivers Festival 2026 is an excellent example of a community providing real local leadership, in caring for local rivers and raising awareness of the importance of good water quality. LAWPRO is fully supportive of community groups playing such an active role in their local communities.”
The Restore Ballymacraven River Association invites everyone to join them in celebrating the Ennistymon Rivers Festival. The majority of events are free, but booking is required, as spaces are limited for a number of events, including kayaking on the Inagh River. The festival kicks off on Friday (1st May) with a river restoration workshop for community groups. The official launch will take place that evening, with a reception and music, followed by the festival keynote speaker; a talk by renowned journalist Ms. Ella Mc Sweeney, who has written about the Ballymacraven River. Her illustrated talk will be followed by a panel discussion. And that’s only the first day. Full details on the RBRA website www.restoreballymacravenriver.com.
Anyone wishing to find out more information or to make a booking, please visit the website or visit Eventbrite under Ennistymon Rivers Festival 2026.
- The Restore Ballymacraven River Association (RBRA) is a local community organisation based in Ennistymon, North Clare. It was established following a major fish kill on the Ballymacraven River in May 2023. Its main objective is to restore, protect, and enhance the rivers, streams, watercourses, and riparian zones of the Ballymacraven River and the Inagh River Estuary for environmental protection and the for the benefit of the local community.
- To date it has carried out its work through community meetings, river clean-up days, educational events, citizen science work along the river, Heritage Week events, planning meetings, meetings with local politicians, state agencies and public bodies. It has planted in excess of 1,600 native Irish tree and removed significant areas of alien invasive cherry laurel. It has also undertaken significant river enhancement works which will continue in 2025.
- It will continue to work to advance awareness of the Ballymacraven River, via educational outreach work with local schools, the wider community, local landowners, and public bodies. It will work the restore the Ballymacraven River, and work to increase our understanding of the role and function of rivers, river corridors and river catchments, including their biodiversity, economic or social value as part of wider river catchment management.
Background to the Restore Ballymacraven River Association
In May 2023, a fish kill occurred on the Ballymacraven River in North County Clare. The fish kill was over a river stretch of 2.6km, downstream from the Uisce Eireann (Irish Water) Ballymacraven Water Treatment Plant, on the Kilfenora Road, outside of Ennistymon. The fish kill continued downstream to the confluence of the Ballymacraven and Inagh River Estuary, below the Falls Hotel, in Ennistymon.
This event, which killed well over 2,000 fish, including Atlantic salmon, brown trout and eels of all age-classes, led to the establishment of the Restore Ballymacraven River Association (RBRA) to coordinate the local community response to the fish kill. The RBRA works on a catchment basis, namely the area of land within the wider Lickeen Lake – Ballymacraven River System. The initial focus area is the Lower Ballymacraven River.
The RBRA offers a platform to help those in the wider community to engage with, and understand what is happening in the rivers and streams of the catchment. It also offers an association of like-minded volunteers to work collaboratively to restore, protect and enhance local water quality and undertake river restoration work to address concerns related to the fish kill and wider issues in the catchment. It offers an opportunity for locals to come together, discuss issues, share ideas, and work collaboratively with other relevant bodies. The work of the RBRA is supported by the Local Authority Waters Programme.
What is the purpose of the Ennistymon Rivers Festival 2026?
The purpose of the Ennistymon Rivers Festival 2026 is to celebrate community resilience and the resilience of local rivers threatened by pollution and fish kills. The Ennistymon Rivers Festival 2026 will allow local residents, families, volunteers, community groups, angling clubs, state agencies, and many others to come together to discuss issues, share ideas, and work collaboratively on catchment management issues.