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 Photo: Courtesy www.upperchurch.ie The beauty of the world hath made me sad, this beauty that will pass;
Sometimes my heart hath shaken with great joy to see a leaping squirrel in a tree,
Or a red lady-bird upon a stalk, or little rabbits in a field at evening,
Lit by a slanting sun, or some green hill where shadows drifted by,
Some quiet hill where mountainy man hath sown and soon would reap; near to the gate of Heaven.
Each time I read this text I often wonder if the poet Padraic Pearse, when penning this poem “The Wayfarer,” was writing about the magnificent wild unspoilt and uncontrolled heavenly beauty, that is Upperchurch, here in Co Tipperary. (Click on image for larger resolution.)
If you have not yet been to visit Upperchurch, to experience that of which I speak, then you need to halt awhile and pay your respects to one of the last areas left in this country, which offers a real Irish welcome without the commercialism, which one now expects to find associated with Irish tourism.
Your excuse for a visit comes next Sunday, March 11th, when a walk with all participants using the Irish language, (Well, as much as possible) will be held starting from Upperchurch at 4.30p.m. This event is part of Seachtain na Gaeilge activities and will take the Eamon an Chnoic Loop over 8 km in length. (By the way, excellent weather is forecast for this area.)
Registration is free and there will be an optional meal available afterwards at a cost of €10, if booked at time of registration. There will also be traditional Irish entertainment to kick off the St. Patrick’s week festivities. All are welcome including those with little or no knowledge of the Irish language.
Tá tráthnóna pléisiúrtha sultmhar sláintiúil geallta do chách. Bígí ann. (Translated: A healthy fun enjoyable evening is guaranteed. Highly recommended.)
Other planned walking events in Upperchurch will include the Easter Sunrise walk, beginning half an hour before sunrise this Easter Sunday, April 8th and a walking and cycling fundraiser on May 6th in aid of the local section of the Beara Breifne Greenway.
Further details of these and other walking and cycling events can be obtained at www.upperchurch.ie or Phone 0504 54443 any weekday 10:00am to 2:00pm or Phone: 086 0518934 or 0504 54284 at other times.
 Machined Turf Cutting The deadline for compensation for displaced turf cutters has been extended and the money being offered has doubled, after fewer than half of the 1,500 people affected by an EU directive on Special Environmental Conservation Areas, had applied to join the scheme.
Three areas affected by this EU directive here in Co. Tipperary include Ballyduff/Clonfinane Bog, latter found to be of International importance for nature conservation, Barroughter Bog situated on the shores of Lough Derg, a few kilometres east of Woodford, and Kilcarren-Firville Bog situated approximately 2 km east of the village of Carrigahorig in North Tipperary.
Yesterday, Arts and Heritage Minister Jimmy Deenihan doubled the compensation on offer for the turf cutters, thus avoiding the prospect of Ireland having to pay a €25,000 daily fine to the European Commission.
To date, less than half of the turf cutters affected have applied for State compensation nationally, which was set up last year, and approximately 63 bog owners only have been paid.
Turf cutters from 14 different counties are now being offered €2,000 in compensation this year, a once-off payment of €500 and €1,500 per year for the next 15 years. The new changes come about following pressure by the Irish Farmers Association who claim that the level of compensation being offered to turf cutters was too low. Following protests by bog owners and turf cutters in Portumna, IFA Connacht Vice President Padraic Divilly stated last July that people need to be compensated fairly if they can’t cut turf.
Mr Deenihan also extended the deadline for applications for this compensation process to the end of next month.
The compensation on offer in these identified special conservation areas is now expected to encourage bog land owners to stop cutting with immediate effect. This year alone, the enhanced compensation is expected to cost the taxpayer another €2.5million.
 “I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree.” Joyce Kilmer (1886 – 1918.)
Irish National Tree Week, organised by the Tree Council of Ireland, takes place from the 4th-10th of March 2012.
The theme for 2012 is ‘Trees – Our Past, Our Present, Our Future, ‘ and will be officially launched by the President of Ireland, Michael D. Higgins, with a tree planting ceremony at 1200 noon in Ardee, Co. Louth.
Here in Tipperary, residents are being prompted to plant more trees and are being asked to spare a thought and indeed celebrate our remarkable heritage of beautiful trees and woodlands here in the county.
Do recognise the significance of our trees and forests as being a living link to our past, an enjoyable and life-enhancing asset in the present time and of course a wise investment in our future.
No fewer than fifteen known events are taking place in Tipperary as part of this National Tree Week.
National Tree Week Events Being Held In Tipperary
Event (1): The Johnny Mc Carthy Woodturning exhibition.
Venue: Bookworm Workshop, Liberty Square, Thurles.
Dates: 4th – 17th March. Organising Body: Johnny Mc Carthy Woodturning.
Contact: Johnny Mc Carthy, Tel: 086 8326369.
Continue reading National Tree Week Begins In Tipperary
 The Templemore Community Eco Lake Rehabilitation works group are to benefit from North Tipperary LEADER Partnership Group, with the latter today granting approved funding of €90,309 for the towns next planned project.
This project involves the installation of a replacement sluice system, the drilling of a borehole and the supply of supplementary water to the existing lake. (Click on Image to enlarge)
Plans also include the felling of a number of trees and the planting / replacement of native trees.
Also on their to do list is the erection of an embankment or causeway, together with angling stands to be erected on the western areas of the lake.
Dredging of a silt trap and marginal areas of the lake together with the fencing of related wetlands, adjacent to this area, are also included.
This project will greatly improve the ecological state of the lake in Templemore’s town park, which is home to a large variety of wildlife.
This park is a wonderful naturally occurring amenity for the residents of Templemore town and also as a tourist attraction for its many annual visitors, not forgetting the local environment.
Photo courtesy G.Willoughby.
 Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Energy & Natural Resources and former Mayor of Drogheda Mr Fergus O’Dowd will be visiting Silvermines here in Tipperary next Monday.
Mr O’Dowd is in Tipperary to discuss the ongoing, long drawn out, rehabilitation of the Silvermines area. He is expected to be accompanied by a geologist and other Department Officials.
The Minister of State will begin by touring Silvermines Tailings Pond, Gortmore and Garryard, and will have talks later with Mr Karl Cashen, Director of Services NTCC, North Tipperary County Manager Joe McGrath and Michael Leamy, local farmer and Chairperson of Silvermines Environmental Group.
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