A week-long celebration on RTÉ Radio 1 of nature and biodiversity in Ireland, the people who dedicate their lives to studying and protecting the natural world, and the artists whose work is inspired by the Irish landscape and the creatures who inhabit it.
Monday 31 October 2022
22.03 - 23.00 - Mooney Goes Wild
What better way to kick off our Nature Nights week on RTÉ Radio One than with a celebration of one of our most beloved nocturnal creatures, the Barn Owl? This gorgeous bird of prey, long a staple of Irish myths and legends, is a favourite of many. Yet, despite its popularity, its population has suffered serious declines. As you'll hear in this special documentary, at long last, efforts to conserve these ultimate night-time hunters seem finally to be paying off.
Presenter: Terry Flanagan
Producer: Derek Mooney
Tuesday 1 November 2022
22.03 - 22.35 - Custodians of Ireland
On a wet and windy summer’s day, at the foot of Mweelrea in West Mayo, ornithologist Professor David Cabot talks with charm and candour about his love of nature and over 60 years of work as an ecologist. He gives insights into living off the land in a way that is more in harmony with the world and his passion for barnacle geese. And about how sheep don’t like it when you look at them!
Presenter/compiler: Michele Browne
Sound supervision: Peadar Kearney
Tuesday 1 November 2022
22.35 - 22.50 - Creatures of the Night
We know that many animals prefer to venture out at night, but did you know that there are also plenty of plants that only really spring into action under cover of darkness. Relying on pollinators such as moths and bats, there are even some flowers that bloom solely at night: a true wealth of botanical wonder that goes unnoticed by most of us. Éanna Ní Lamhna talks to Dr. Matthew Jebb, Director of the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, all about the nocturnal life of plants.
Reporter: Éanna Ní Lamhna
Producer: Derek Mooney
Tuesday 1 November 2022
22.50 - 23.00 - The flame cries, 'Come!'
"How long do they live, fluttering
in and out of the shadows?"
Mary Oliver, The Moths
Dark spectacle… Gold Spot… White Ermine… Pale Tussock… Ireland is home to nearly 1,500 different moth species. Ella McSweeney goes on a nocturnal hunt for some of these remarkable creatures, who come alive at night.
Presenter/producer: Ella McSweeney
Wednesday 2 November 2022
22.03-22.35 - Custodians of Ireland
Machair is the Gaelic for a low-lying grassy plain, and Machair habitats are only found in Scotland and Ireland. From the shingle, the dunes and the wetlands of Carrownisky beach, Dr. Catherine Farrell, Project Manager of LIFE on Machair, talks about the very special features of this rare habitat – and what needs to be done to restore it to its full glory. Catherine is particularly concerned about waders such as lapwing and dunlin and talks about how the people of Bellmullet Tidy Towns have taken ownership of efforts to protect the great yellow bumble bee.
Presenter/compiler: Michele Browne
Sound supervision: Peadar Kearney
Wednesday 2 November 2022
22.35 - 22.50 - Creatures of the Night
Many nocturnal mammals have evolved exceptional powers of hearing and smell, depending far less on eyesight than us humans. A case in point is the Red Fox, a common creature across Ireland, yet one that can be hard to spot... unless you happen to live in a city. Many become accustomed to urban life, with some even dwelling in the heart of our capital and thriving side-by-side with people. Niall Hatch travelled to the bustling grounds of Trinity College Dublin, home to generations of wild canines, to speak to the university’s Environmental Services Coordinator, David Hackett, and Dave Wall of the National Biodiversity Data Centre about the secret life of the urban fox.
Reporter: Niall Hatch
Producer: Derek Mooney
Wednesday 2 November 2022
22.50 - 23.00 - Brother Sun, Sister Moon
John Connell, poet Jane Clarke and environmental campaigner Lorna Gold read from their own work and classical writings on themes of nature and reflect on how the natural world has inspired artists since ancient times.
Producer: Tom Donnelly
Thursday 3 November 2022
22.03 - 22.35 - Custodians of Ireland
Completing a triumvirate of ecologists working in county Mayo, Derek McLoughlin walks us through some fabulous features of a blanket bog, pointing out heathers, sphagnum pools and an otter trail while on the search for the very rare – and elusive – Twite, a little member of the finch family. Derek is the project Manager of Wild Atlantic Nature, which looks to add value to a network of 35 Blanket bogs and associated areas.
Presenter/compiler: Michele Browne
Sound supervision: Peadar Kearney
Thursday 3 November 2022
22.35 - 22.50 - Creatures of the Night
Our ancestors were highly accustomed to spending significant portions of their lives in darkness. Like most creatures on the planet, we evolved physical, mental and behavioural changes triggered by the setting and the rising of the sun. These circadian rhythms, as they are called, consist of natural processes that respond to predictable patterns of light and dark. In our modern world, however, over-exposure to light at night has become something of a problem, both for us and for our fellow animals. Dr. Richard Collins speaks to Etta Dannemann, founder of Visit Dark Skies about the fundamental importance of our relationship with the night sky.
Reporter: Richard Collins
Producer: Derek Mooney
Thursday 3 November 2022
22.50 - 23.00 - My Farm At Night
Hannah Quinn-Mulligan walks the fields of her county Limerick farm in the hours of darkness, listening to the sounds of her cattle at rest and reflecting on the farmer’s relationship with wild animals and biodiversity.
Reporter: Hannah Quinn-Mulligan
Producer: Tom Donnelly
Friday 4 November 2022
22.03 - 22.30 - Custodians of Ireland
From her city garden off the Glasheen Road in Cork, garden designer Valerie Keating Bond and her partner, landscape designer Adam Hunt, bring a whole new dimension to gardens. Nurturing plants of all shapes and sizes, natives, non-natives, in their prime, when gone to seed – their gardens are alive with birds and bees and bugs and sounds and connections to green corridors nearby. We’ll hear what a rewilded landscape might sound like – with reed buntings and bill clacking storks and croaking frogs – in snippets from a soundscape installed in Adam’s show garden, which won a Gold medal and Best-in-Show at this year’s Chelsea Flower Show. It was created by Mike Edwards and Harry Coade of Sound Matters, who use the power of sound to help people reconnect with the natural world.
Presenter/compiler: Michele Browne
Sound supervision: Peadar Kearney
Friday 4 November 2022
22.30 - 23.00 - Seascapes
Seascapes explores a project to protect sand dunes on one of Dublin's busiest coastal spots, Burrow Beach. The area was the subject of controversy earlier this year when huge crowds left tonnes of rubbish behind after one sunny weekend. But Burrow Beach is also an area where huge efforts are going in to protecting the sand dunes and their wildlife. Seascapes also goes beach-combing in county Kerry to see what is washed up, where it comes from and the natural life to be found on every coast of Ireland.
Presenter/producer: Fergal Keane
Saturday 5 November 2022
22:00 - 23:00 - Folk on One
To finish off the week of Nature Nights, Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh brings us a curated collection of songs and tunes from the stable of folk music, inspired by and featuring the natural world. Short billing: Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh brings us a curated collection of songs and tunes from the stable of folk music, inspired by and featuring the natural world.
Presenter: Muireann Nic Aomhlaoibh