Trish Dromey explores a lovely Scandinavian-style architect-designed stone and timber home set in woodland near Ballyvaughan, Co Clare.

I go for a quick run with Jasper the dog (he runs, I walk)

Fiann Ó Nualláin follows in the footsteps of the Fianna as he explores a province’s hills and vales.

Scientists have discovered fossils in Co Clare that could help them better understand the evolution process.

I just love to take short breaks in Ireland. This time it was west Clare. There’s much to be excited about.

Environmentally, the increasing number of visitors is unintentionally degrading the area that they come to see and admire most in the Burren.

North Clare and its Burren landscape is a barren, yet breath taking part of the country, writes Mimi Murray.

The nature of limestone is defined by severe erosion as the carboniferous rock dissolves. This is seen most dramatically in the Burren, where underground rivers, clints, grykes, and erratics lend dramatic consequence to the landscape. Where limestone outcrops occur off the coast the severe erosion is augmented by the power of the sea producing often exotic shapes.

This cottage-style home on 11 acres has a modern touch — and stunning vistas, writes Trish Dromey.

Let’s have a bit of craic, for the season that’s in it, and forget again for a restful while about all the pressures being imposed on all of us by this chaotic Brexit business, and the likely consequences.

My childhood memories of summer are from growing up in Kilnamona, Co Clare. It all centred around gatherings — gathering the hay in stacks and stuff.

Results of the votes here will not be announced until 10pm tonight due to a European-wide embargo.

GALWAY chef JP McMahon thinks it should be a national food. Food experts estimate it could create up to 200 jobs in coastal areas. And earlier this month, the Slow Food Festival in the Burren put it centre stage.

It will involve a series of engagements in Dublin, Westmeath, Galway and Clare, and include a meeting with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and President Michael D Higgins.

If I handed you a list of the top 10 things to do in Ireland before you die, how many do you reckon you could tick off?

Forget about building your child’s self-esteem, “it’s for the birds”, says Dr Harry Barry.

There are many simple steps to help green tourism without limiting your horizons, says Thomas Breathnach

The sustainable travel movement is here to stay, writes Thomas Breathnach.

With “bird numbers plummeting”, “the insect Armageddon”, and “climate catastrophe only 12 years away”, there’s doom and gloom on the wildlife front.

A hat designer favoured by Lady Gaga, a financial brokerage with 300 clients and a thriving new cleaning and maintenance service, are just three of the 18 finalists through to the Irish Local Development Network CLG (ILDN) National Enterprise Awards on May 16.

The recent splendid spell of weather prompted some readers to inquire if we had yet heard the cuckoo.

The Gael Warning I accurately issued last week can be downgraded somewhat by now, thank heavens.

Plants need to be able to tolerate everything the local climate has to throw at them, says Peter Dowdall.

Pine martens have rich, brown fur; rounded ears and long, bushy tails. They eat a wide variety of food, including mice and rats, fruit, birds, insects and carrion.

The Silver Branch will screen at several cinemas nationwide on various dates, including IFI Dublin from Oct 5. It will screen at Cork’s Triskel Arts Centre for four nights from Nov 26

We were on our way to Ennistymon to eat at Little Fox, a newly opened, super cool café on a corner of Main Street.

A €257m, 10-year tourism masterplan for our national parks has been a long time coming, writes Caroline O’Doherty.

I believe in beauty. I believe in stones and water, air and soil, people and their future and their fate.”

Having enjoyed the magic of Co Clare as a youngster, Eoin English retraces his steps — now with his own family in tow.

It’s National Biodiversity Week and there’s hardly a better time for enjoying the outdoors. The Irish Environmental Network has helped organise over 50 free events across the country over nine days, May 19-27. All about encouraging people to connect with nature and celebrate the wildlife, plants and habitats on our doorsteps.

Some people have reported hearing the cuckoo's call around Mangerton mountain, near Killarney, Co Kerry, writes Donal Hickey

Forts and Martello towers dotted around Cork Harbour and what was once the biggest gunpowder factory in the British empire could soon be designated as Unesco World Heritage sites.

Inishmaan, Co Galway, is a glorious place but it can be challenging too.

Certainly, there were vegetarian restaurants in Ireland before Café Paradiso but you’d be hard-pressed to imagine any of them being accepted into the fine dining club at the upper end of the market all of 25 years ago when it first opened.

Ellie O’Byrne suggests some interesting ways to spend January 1, to get 2018 off to a great start

Demands have been made for the ESB to be held accountable for the “butchery” of the Gearagh and for the formation of a group to manage and protect the area.

‘Traffic bottlenecks’ are developing on the Wild Atlantic Way tourist route in peak season. Fáilte Ireland has said long delays and capacity issues are “negatively affecting the visitor experience”, according to an internal brief.

Ellie O’Byrne picks her top eight events for Halloween

Far too many four and five-star hotels in Ireland are under-performing and proving a disappointment to high-paying guests, according to Georgina Campbell, the woman behind the annual hospitality awards.

Update 7.23pm: The search for a man missing off the coast of Co Clare is being wound down this evening, but will resume again tomorrow.

Manchán Magan is in the midst of a new radio series that taps into the weird and wonderful aspects of Ireland’s natural heritage, writes Jonathan deBurca Butler.