#Outdoors

A COMPREHENSIVE SERIES OF ARTICLES ON THIS TOPIC

A Daubenton's bat (Latin name Myotis dabentonii) hunting over water at dawn against a star lit sky
Simply misunderstood: We're in the dark on our many bat species
For Ireland's nine resident bat species, it's a little unfair at Halloween time to lump them into the same catergory as ghosts and axe murders

Fri, 30 Oct, 2026

Donal Hickey: Discovery of rare fan mussel is welcome news
Donal Hickey: Discovery of rare fan mussel is welcome news
The find is certainly a positive development at a time when the survival of many marine species around our coastline is under threat

Thu, 29 Oct, 2026

Human Circulatory System Heart Anatomy
This one scientific advance could help reduce energy use and bills. The key is the human heart
Small science can beat Big Tech at finding solutions to the real problems facing the planet

Sat, 24 Oct, 2026

Artificial intelligence can’t replace the benefits of nature intelligence
Artificial intelligence can’t replace the benefits of nature intelligence
As AI changes what and how we learn, real world learning will grow in value

Fri, 23 Oct, 2026

Fall is time to turn back time. Daylight Savings Time
Whose bright idea was it that the clocks should go backwards?
Every autumn, the clocks go back one hour. The reward is brighter mornings. The price is evenings that appear to end before the working day does. But who decided to start interfering with time in the first place?

Fri, 23 Oct, 2026

Ireland
Tough old birds: Resourceful crows are true survivors
Intelligent, resourceful and attractive creatures, crows are splendid exemplars of how wild creatures can survive in an often hostile world

Fri, 23 Oct, 2026

Close-up of farmer holding potato at farm
Under threat: Weather proving a problem for potato growing
Is the future of the humble spud in Ireland in doubt as drought and exceptionally rainy conditions hit home?

Fri, 16 Oct, 2026

coconut crab
Enduring mystery: Giant crabs the latest lead in hunt for Amelia Earhart
Could the enormous coconut crabs on a tiny, uninhabited Pacific island provide some answers in one of aviation's greatest mysteries?

Thu, 15 Oct, 2026

Heads or tails, 3D printing can make fish waste appetising
Heads or tails, 3D printing can make fish waste appetising
Beril Bayrak is a PhD student at Munster Technological University, Cork

Mon, 12 Oct, 2026

Belt holes or BMI? Experts must weigh up best way to talk about obesity
Belt holes or BMI? Experts must weigh up best way to talk about obesity
‘Displaying nutritional information and communicating it effectively are not quite the same thing’

Mon, 12 Oct, 2026

Forest fire
Learning from the past: Australia’s wildfire crisis was shaped by colonialism
Climate change is making wildfires more dangerous but heat alone does not decide how a landscape burns. Fuel, vegetation and decades, or even centuries, of land management matter too

Sat, 10 Oct, 2026

Tall Ash tree
Under threat: Securing the future of our elm and ash trees
Urgent action is needed to protect the small number of our elm and ash trees that are resisting two devastating diseases

Fri, 09 Oct, 2026

House model wrapped in scarf on radiator winter energy, heating and insulation background
Cutting fuel taxation in the budget does nothing to cure the disease
Households need help to break free from home heating oil for good

Mon, 05 Oct, 2026

Sky Matters: Gaining perspective by using objects visible in the October sky
Sky Matters: Gaining perspective by using objects visible in the October sky
Maps provide perspective but once we move from maps of Earth to a map of the galaxy, the Earth becomes almost vanishingly small and map projections lose their relevance. So perhaps we can consider perspective based on comparisons beyond the Earth

Sat, 03 Oct, 2026

Hedgehog, Scientific name: Erinaceus Europaeus. Wild, native, European hedgehog at dusk, foraging on a fallen log in wet, Autu
The usual suspects: Small, spiky and surprisingly mysterious
Over the next few weeks, if something starts crashing around beneath the hedge after dark, it may be a local hedgehog, spending its nights eating as much as possible before disappearing into its winter nest

Fri, 02 Oct, 2026

Nepal Flash Floods
If we don’t listen to the science on climate change, can we at least hear its victims?
The stories of people whose lives, livelihoods and cultures have been destroyed should resonate clearly with Ireland’s famine past

Mon, 28 Sep, 2026

Nature is our most critical infrastructure but it is being positioned as a hindrance
Nature is our most critical infrastructure but it is being positioned as a hindrance
Government should not only reserve legal designation for fast-tracking built projects but should extend it to nature too

Mon, 28 Sep, 2026

Moving with the times: Is there room for a greener commute?
Moving with the times: Is there room for a greener commute?
As we build more housing, proximity to public transport is not the key influence when it comes to trying to reduce car dependence. It's the supply of public transport services in terms of frequency, reliability, and capacity that matters most

Fri, 25 Sep, 2026

Outdoor School Group Of Diverse Children Studying Together In Green Field
Education is key: Heritage scheme hopes to turn learning into action
Children everywhere are being invited to take part in the National Heritage Keepers Programme so as to discover and protect the natural, built and cultural heritage on their doorstep

Thu, 24 Sep, 2026

Turf block piles, industrial peat extraction on a raised bog landscape, nature destruction in the Venner Moor, Lower Saxony, Ger
Ireland’s peatland paradox: Restoring bogs while commercial extraction continues
The taxpayer is helping fund  rehabilitation to undo decades of drainage on one set of bogs, while environmental authorities are simultaneously having to pursue unauthorised commercial extraction on others

Fri, 18 Sep, 2026

Kennel dogs locked
Pet peeve: Dog owners can make mistakes from day one
People often fail to give sufficient thought to what they are taking on when choosing a pet which in turn can lead to problems down the road

Thu, 17 Sep, 2026

Portrait of female standing near open fridge full of healthy food, vegetables and fruits.
Donal Hickey: Let’s stop and think to avoid wasting food 
The EPA says households could save upwards of €60 per month by making small changes in how they buy, store and cook food. If people are thinking about waste, they will do something to prevent it

Thu, 10 Sep, 2026

Croagh Patrick
Michelle McKeown: Stronger source-to-sea approach needed to protect our oceans
Our relationship with the ocean does not begin at the beach. It begins in upland bogs, farm drains, city streets, groundwater and small streams. And what happens on land can have very real consequences at sea

Thu, 10 Sep, 2026

Saturn moon Enceladus in front of planet Saturn, rings and other moons
Sky Matters: Active research into enduring and complex question
It’s one of humanities greatest questions: are we alone? And in the 50 years since the 1976 Viking landings on Mars, the question of life in the universe has become so much more complex

Sun, 06 Sep, 2026

Bouquet of flowers in vase
Best buds: Just how green is your wedding bouquet?
Weddings are never an exercise in environmental perfection. But there are a few simple choices we can make that can lessen the environmental footprint of our big day without lessening the beauty of the occasion.

Sat, 05 Sep, 2026

FRANCE-MOUNTAIN-SANCY-AUGUST-2025
Groundhog day: Call for end to hunting of French marmots
Shooting marmots is permitted from September 1 each year in France, however, animal rights activists do not approve and are calling on the French government to prohibit such hunting on humane grounds

Fri, 04 Sep, 2026

SCOTLAND Hedgehogs 1
Urban crawl: Number of hedgehogs in cities spikes
Urban populations appear relatively stable, highlighting the critical role that suburban gardens, parks, and other managed green spaces play in hedgehog survival

Thu, 03 Sep, 2026

Sargassum seaweed in Mayan Riviera and Cancun beach on Caribbean,
Too much of a good thing: Why sargassum has become such a problem
Offshore sargassum is extremely valuable as nurseries and refuges, providing shelter and food for fish, crabs, seabirds and young sea turtles, Near shore, however, excessive quantities can lower oxygen levels, block light and smother seagrass, corals and other marine life

Fri, 28 Aug, 2026

Dodo Bird
Bird-brained: Research debunks long-held beliefs about dodos
Was the dodo really the overweight, intellectually-challenged slob of popular opinion? A new study suggests not

Fri, 28 Aug, 2026

Hikes and trails: Sit in Synge's Chair on defiantly traditional and tranquil Inishmaan 
Hikes and trails: Sit in Synge's Chair on defiantly traditional and tranquil Inishmaan 
Untroubled by the daily pressures of tidal tourism, Inishmaan continues as an authentic outpost of Gaelic culture where Irish defiantly persists as an everyday language

Thu, 27 Aug, 2026

British Berry Growers Blackberry Spotlight
Donal Hickey: Blackberries ripe and 'ready for the bucket'
People of all ages, often three or more generations together, are out harvesting and moving along the ditches as brambles are well-laden with blackberries ready for picking

Thu, 27 Aug, 2026

Pet rat
Rat trap: Much of what we blame on rodents is our own doing
Rats are dirty. They contaminate food stores, spread disease and damage buildings. But we have only ourselves to blame for their ubiquitous presence

Sat, 22 Aug, 2026

Herd Of Holstein Friesian Cattle
Farming bailouts a barrier to climate-resilient food system
Farmers need and deserve wide public support however that support is under increasing strain and will not last while the focus of the industry is on maintaining business as usual

Sat, 22 Aug, 2026

A real buzzkill: Ecological change and the potential threat from mosquitoes
A real buzzkill: Ecological change and the potential threat from mosquitoes
Mosquito-borne disease is not a major public-health problem here. But a new Irish review suggests we should not assume that will always remain the case

Fri, 21 Aug, 2026

A Peacock butterfly sitting on Lavender flowers in the sunshine in Hampshire, UK
Donal Hickey: Plants to help our under-threat butterflies
Since 2008, when systemic monitoring of the butterfly population began, there’s been a steep decline, with habitat loss being a critical issue

Fri, 21 Aug, 2026

Dollars Yen Pounds Euros Financial Washout
Paradise lost: Tourist taxes and the price of visiting beautiful places
There is a strong argument that tourists should contribute towards maintaining the places they enjoy. Properly designed taxes can raise substantial sums for conservation, infrastructure and public services. But revenue raised is not an environmental outcome and its what happens afterwards is real the problem

Sat, 15 Aug, 2026

Woolly Rhinoceros
Wisdom teeth: Rhino remains cast light on Neanderthals' resourcefulness
‘Grizzly’ Neanderthals have been depicted as brutal and sub-human. They were deemed to have been artistically challenged. However, paintings left by them on the walls of caves suggest otherwise

Fri, 14 Aug, 2026

Buff-tip moth
Wild Matters: Farmer-led initiative helping reveal the magic of moths
The Farmer Moth Monitoring Project is opening our eyes to the world of moths, helping us to appreciate and value these secret inhabitants of our ecosystems

Fri, 14 Aug, 2026

DENIS SCANNELL
Donal Hickey: Local dismay over delays to Killarney sewage plant works
Concerns are growing as essential work to upgrade the town’s underperforming sewage treatment plant will not now take place before 2030

Thu, 13 Aug, 2026

Solar eclipse
'You don't want to miss this': Cork and Kerry to get stunning view of partial solar eclipse
All of Ireland will be able to see Wednesday's partial eclipse — and the South West will be treated to a once-in-a-lifetime event, with up to 98% of the sun covered

Tue, 11 Aug, 2026

Hikes and trails: Enjoy an easy ramble back through the centuries at Portumna Forest
Hikes and trails: Enjoy an easy ramble back through the centuries at Portumna Forest
The quicksilver waters of the Shannon sparkling vividly through the trees at Bonaveen Point is undoubtedly the high point of this three-hour route around this leafy forest trail

Fri, 07 Aug, 2026

'Knowledge is power': Showing off the undersea wonders of Cork Harbour
'Knowledge is power': Showing off the undersea wonders of Cork Harbour
A new marine experience has opened up on Cork's coast, spearheaded by local man Dave Quinlan, who tells MARGARET DONNELLAN how the fishing industry has helped provide many of the fascinating exhibits

Mon, 03 Aug, 2026

Opening of Himalayan Hills, Dublin Zoo
Lesser spotted: This elusive leopard is somewhat of a 'ghost'
The snow leopard is more closely related to the tiger than to the ‘common’ leopard. But whereas the latter is a highly adaptable species, the ‘ghost’ is a specialist, at home only on the highest mountains

Sat, 25 Jul, 2026

Fish boat vessel fishing in a rough sea
Uneasy sea-bedfellows: Oceans of conflict around fishing and conservation
A major impediment to fishermen effectively becoming guardians of the seas and leading on restoration efforts is the complex manner in which the sea is managed

Sat, 25 Jul, 2026

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