ECO SHOWBOAT at LOUGH KEY

Artist Anna Macleod is joined by biologist Dr Mary Kelly-Quinn, Tommy Earley from Mount Allen Eco Farm and musician Shahab Coohe to celebrate the mayfly on the shore of Lough Key.

Mayflies are very sensitive to water quality and temperature and as such are classed as an indicator species of the health of water bodies. During the spring, Anna worked with 5th and 6th class pupils from Cootehall National School on a series of drawings and sculptures to chart the Mayfly’s contribution to biodiversity. Anna Macleod's new collaborative body of work with artist Padraig Cunningham, Ephemera looks at the life cycle of this ancient insect as metaphor for the precariousness of existence in the Anthropocene & as a symbol of survival and renewal.

THE ECO SHOWBOAT EXPEDITION 2022

ARTISTS UNDERTAKE SOLAR POWERED EXPEDITION ON THE SHANNON TO SPARK CLIMATE ACTION THROUGH THE ARTS

The Eco Showboat Mayfly expedition is a four month arts voyage from Limerick to Enniskillen on the Mayfly, the flagship of the Eco Showboat project, and the first solar electric boat to make this journey.

On Sunday 31st July the Mayfly will dock at Doon Shore. You are invited to join us for this wonderful afternoon of art, workshops and talks.

15:00

Artist Anna Macleod shows us work she has been doing on Lough Key around the theme of the Mayfly, an indicator of the best quality water.

While most of the life cycle of this ancient species happens underwater, their winged existence may last only a few hours, just long enough to allow the insect to reproduce, which tales place on a single day during an extraordinary swarming dance. Mayflies are very sensitive to water quality and temperature and as such are classed as an indicator species of the health of water bodies. Anna Macleod's new body of work will look at the life cycle of the Mayfly as metaphor for the precariousness of existence in the Anthropocene & as a symbol of survival and renewal.

15:30

The Mayfly and Other Aquatic Insects as Indicators of Water Quality

Associate Professor Mary Kelly Quinn, a leading authority on the Mayfly, and author of Mayflies (Ephemeroptera) of Ireland, National Biodiversity Data Centre, Ireland, a complete database for the Ephemeroptera of Ireland. Also among her many publications is a book on Ireland's Rivers. She is a lecturer at UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science.  Her primary research activities focus on the assessment and mitigation of land-use and other anthropogenic activities on the hydrochemical and ecological quality of surface freshwaters.

16:00

TOMMY EARLEY

Tommy Earley runs a 100-acre organic farm, Mountallen on the shore of Lough Allen straddling counties Leitrim and Roscommon. For many years Tommy has promoted innovative ideas to enhance the biodiversity, habitats and environmental awareness on the family farm and in his local community. Mountallen Eco Tours promote Farming with Nature with a focus on ecology, biodiversity, local history and organic farm management.

16:30

SHAHAB COOHE - Waterside Concert

Born into a family of music lovers, Shahab Coohe started his music education aged eight, under the direction of Majid Kiani, one of the contemporary masters of the santoor (a trapezoid-shaped stringed instrument that pre-dates the duclimer and piano). He also plays violin and is currently studying performance at the Royal Irish Academy of Music.

All afternoon

SLOW LOOKING - Workshop with the Eco Showboat artists

Cleary and Connolly believe that learning begins with looking. Looking closely at things - for the purposes of observation and accurate documentation, or just for the simple pleasure of engaging your mind with the world - affords a deeper learning experience by fixing attention and setting up a remarkably complex and active investigation that begins with the eye and progressively engages the whole mind. The Slow Looking workshop invites you to use a range of simple viewing devices - bug boxes and magnifying glasses - to observe closely samples of biodiversity found on site, and to draw these using the materials provided, in a relaxed atmosphere conducive to conversation.