This Saturday at 10.30am, July 22, as part of the Galway Fringe Festival, members of Cumann na bhFear (Men's Shed Galway city ) and Conservation Volunteers will use traditional hand-held instruments to mow the grasslands at Terryland.
The mowing will be the second year that volunteers have been called upon to help mow the wildflower meadow.
Over the last few years, volunteers have planted a large number of native Irish wildflowers to brighten up the Forest Park and to produce bountiful meadows.
In olden times, meadows were used by farmers to grow long grass for cutting during the late summer or autumn months to make hay to feed livestock during the winter.
Meadows are vibrant animal habitats, especially pollinating insects like bees, butterflies, and moths. The Conservation Volunteers aim to re-introduce meadows back into Galway city to help contribute to sustaining the declining worldwide bee population.
Bees are key to human life as they pollinate plants that are responsible for a large portion of the foods that we eat.
Scientific research has shown that animals which graze in meadows of long grass eat far more minerals and proteins, and are subsequently a lot healthier. The hay cutting provides a unique opportunity to get involved in the cultivating of these meadows that contribute so much to the natural environment.
Brendan Smith of Cumann na bhFear said, "We are particularly requesting people experienced in mowing with hand-held scythes to get involved in this ancient communal hay-cutting, which was so much part of rural life in Ireland up until the early 1970s."
