Edgeworthstown History

In conjunction with the Irish Independent Newspaper Cultural Longford are producing a supplement celebrating Maria Edgeworth’s 250th birthday as well as other aspects of culture in Longford county. The supplement will be published on the 25th April in the Independent and we think it will give you a good overview of Longford’s Cultural landscape.

There is such a wealth of great stories in our county and in our town the Edgeworth Society hope this publication will attract visitors to the town who want to hear those stories…

 

Advertisements

Spring Clean & Fun Run

Well it’s been a busy weekend for Tidy Towns. On Saturday we held our Spring Clean – we had a great crew of volunteers out on both the Friday and Saturday. This year we found less rubbish than usual which we think is down the continuing efforts through the year of all our volunteers and we’d like to thank everyone for their help.

On Sunday we held our Fun Run fundraiser and despite the cold weather and other attractions we had about fifty runners and walkers took part.

Overall winner and 1st Junior Boy – Roc Bellostas – Time: 19:58

1st Senior Lady – Maggie Smith & Millie – Time: 24:38

1st Senior Man – Padraig Jones – Time: 21:35

1st Junior Girl – Laura McKeon – Time 27:40

Special thanks to the Community Centre for making it available to us for registration and to the Gardai for helping with traffic.

 

We resume our midweek activities on Wednesday 18th at 7.30 pm meeting at the Edgeworth.

1st Senior Lady – Maggie Smith & Millie – Time: 24:38

1st Senior Man – Padraig Jones – Time: 21:35

Overall winner and 1st Junior Boy – Roc Bellostas – Time: 19:58

1st Junior Girl – Laura McKeon – Time 27:40

Maria Edgeworth Statue

Maria got a recent face lift thanks to the hard work of Beatrice Patterson and Kathleen Reynolds Thanks to Beatrice for the photos. Unfortunately this eye catching display caught the attention of a flower thief who took a number of them from the display. This thief or thieves comes out of hiding every year around this time to pull up a number of the plants we set requiring us to replace them and hope they don’t get stolen again.

Well we hope their roses rot,
their pansies putrify
their dahlias decay
and the grass on their lawns withers

 

 

Pollinators

On the 17th September 2015, Ireland, North and South, joined a small number of countries in Europe who have developed a strategy to address pollinator decline and protect pollination services

Sixty-eight governmental and non-governmental organisations agreed a shared Plan that identifies 81 actions to make Ireland pollinator friendly

http://www.biodiversityireland.ie/projects/irish-pollinator-initiative/all-ireland-pollinator-plan/

 

Memorial Planters

Today (24th March) we installed new planters by the WWI Memorial. Chairman Tom Dooley made these himself.

Planters

Planters

Planters

Planters

Planted area at back of Mostrim Arms – looks well after it’s tidy up – thanks to Damian Gilchrist for the excellent work.

Ocean Currents

Could the world’s ocean be reaching the point where they no longer function as they used to?

https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/03/research-hints-at-tipping-point-in-the-atlantics-currents/?amp=1&__twitter_impression=true

 

Network for Nature event

On the 10th March three of our members attended a Network For Nature Tidy Towns event in the Longford Arms with topics covering pollinators, water catchments, what auditors look for, water conservation projects, invasive species among other topics. It was an interesting an informative day, a number of exhibitors had brochures and displays.

One common theme in many communities today is the threat of Japanese Knot weed but did you know there is also a Himalayan knot weed as well. Kieran,  from Eco Advocacy gave us a short talk on some of the many species of invader in Ireland. The documents below were sent to us so please read for more information. As with any such species please consult with our Environmental Manager/County Council for advice before tackling these as you may make things worse.

ID_Fallopia_japonica_(Japanese_knotweed)ID_Gunnera_species_(Giant_rhubarb)ID_Heracleum_mantegazzianum_(Giant_Hogweed)ID_Impatiens_glandulifera_(Himalayan_Balsam)