Pupils of Kilteevan National School / Junior Tidy Towns celebrated National Tree Day this week.

The children were busy collecting Acorns, Chestnuts and Beech Nuts and then planted them in one of their Outdoor Classrooms.

The purpose of the initiative is to encourage  schools to get involved in various initiatives from planting trees to learning about their important role in our ecosystem.

Trees and woodlands are rich habitats for biodiversity. In terms of climate change they take carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and aid the cooling of the Earth.

Trees support pollination, species diversity, water and soil quality.

If you want to support planet Earth, one of the best actions you can take is to plant a tree. Well Done Kilteevan National School.

Keep up to date with all Kilteevan NS news and activities  by clicking on the link below.

https://www.kilteevanns.com/

Colours are definitely the SMILES of nature.

Kilteevan Tidy Towns would like to express a sincere thank you to Jim Mc Causland and Casey’s Londis for the generous gift of Spring Bulbs which we collected today.

Something to look forward to!

Last night September 1^st brought Tidy Towns 2020 to a close in Kilteevan.  While there was no Tidy Towns Competition this year, the committee agreed to work alone or socially distant to keep Kilteevan looking well.

To mark the end of the year, last night Chairperson Eileen Fahey announced that Mattie Murphy was the Volunteer of the Year.  Eileen stated that Mattie at 91 years of age was an inspiration. To paraphrase Ghandi, Eileen said “Mattie is an example of how, in your own gentle, wise way, you can shake the world”.

Congratulations and thank you Mattie for your continuous contribution to your community.

 Offers of help and assistance are always welcome to Kilteevan Tidy Towns.

_{Posted 2 September 2020} 

Kilteevan Tidy Towns would like to express A Sincere Thank You to our 3 brave Committee members who represented us on a Zoom Interview on Thursday August 27th in the All Island Pride of Place Competition.

This competition is described as the Oscars of Community Sector.

Kilteevan Tidy Towns would like to wish the very best of luck to the other Co Roscommon Competitors, Roscommon Gaels All Stars and Ballaghaderreen Men’s Shed. Here’s hoping Co. Roscommon does well.

Thanks to Roscommon Co Council and IPB Pride of Place for the privilege of participation at this level and for keeping the competition going in these challenging times. Results will be announced in November.

_{Posted 29 August 2020}

Kilteevan Tidy Towns Belated Spring Clean on Saturday July 25th at 10.00 am.

Please bring your own gloves. Social Distancing will apply.

We are appealing to all Tidy Towns members and everyone in the community, to come along and help us .

Posted 11 July 2020

Kilteevan Tidy Towns is delighted to announce that following our application to Roscommon Co Council, Kilteevan has been nominated for the ALL ISLAND PRIDE OF PLACE 2020 COMPETITION.

We will represent Co Roscommon under the category “Creative Place”.

The judges will not be visiting the community , instead we must make a presentation and we will be interviewed on line.

We will do our very best to represent Kilteevan and Co Roscommon.

Results will be announced at an event in Killarney in November.

Posted July 1 2020

Representatives from Kilteevan Tidy Towns and Kilteevan National School were delighted to welcome John Meade from BirdWatch Ireland to the village today. John was carrying out a survey of Swifts in Co Roscommon.

Swifts spend over eight months of the year in Southern Africa. They travel to Ireland each Summer to nest.   From May to August you can encounter Swifts. You will usually hear Swifts before you see them, their distinctive 'screaming' call is uttered on the wing as they fly superbly over rooftops at high speed.

Swifts have adapted to nesting in cavities where found in buildings in our cities, towns, and villages. Their future is seriously threatened in Ireland due primarily to the loss of nesting sites. 

We examined the possibility of nesting sites in Kilteevan today. If you are aware of any Swifts in Kilteevan please let us know. We will continue to learn and work in support of swifts into the future. Our thanks to John Meade for all his advice.

Posted 17 June 2020

On February 21^st 2020, the Department of Rural and Community Development published details of projects to be funded under the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme in collaboration with Fáilte Ireland, the National Tourism Development Authority. The Scheme provides funding for the development and maintenance of outdoor amenities such as trails, walkways, cycleways and blueways.

Following three years of successful and very hard work - Kilteevan Tidy Towns is delighted that the Cloonlarge Loop is one of the projects selected for further development. 

This good news follows on from successful applications by Kilteevan Tidy Towns  to the Outdoor Recreation Scheme in 2017 and the Peatlands Community Engagement  Scheme in 2018 and 2019.

What a wonderful achievement!

Well Done to Kilteevan Tidy Towns and Roscommon Co Council on the successful  2020 application.

We look forward to the exciting new phase of development.  Kilteevan and Cloonlarge are once again on the map!

Below details of the funding for 2020 under the Outdoor Recreation Scheme.

ROSCOMMON Under Measure 2

Cloonlarge Walk/Cycleway Construction of walkway with Cycle route.

Cloonlarge Loop, Co. Roscommon €200,000

 _{Posted February 22nd 2020} 

Please note, that due to the inclement weather ,the event on Sunday 16th Re-imagining Roscommon has been postponed. We look forward to rescheduling this event soon again. Watch this space.

Posted Friday 14 February  1.30pm

 Kilteevan Tidy Towns Committee has announced that after months of hard work, recent developments on Cloonlarge Loop, are officially completed. The project involved the installation of a Bilingual Trail Map, Way Markers and Information Signs. It also included a small recycled plastic deck with a Story Time Chair and a small library and art box for children and adults.

This project was funded by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht under the Peatlands Community Engagement Scheme 2019. The scheme was developed to encourage local peatland communities to engage in the conservation and revitalisation of Special Areas of Conservation

The Deck was officially opened by 90-year-old Mattie Murphy and 5 month old Alex Neilan.

Members of Kilteevan Tidy Towns, and the agencies involved gathered together on the deck recently to review the end product. Speaking at the gathering, Eileen Fahey, Chairperson Kilteevan Tidy Towns, stated that success like this could not be achieved without the dedication and hard work of Kilteevan Tidy Towns volunteers. 

“Our committee is very proud of the fact that The Cloonlarge Loop won a Runner -Up Award in 2018 and 2^nd place in 2019 in the Tidy Towns Special Awards Section for Sustainable Development” 

Eileen acknowledged the funding from the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, and the support of the staff at the Peatlands Management Unit in Wexford. The group’s membership of the Community Wetlands Forum was highlighted as being most beneficial in building confidence and learning.

She thanked the O’Brien, family for Knockcroghery for consenting  to the development in memory of their parents the late Hubert and Elizabeth O Brien.

_{Pictured above with the group Batty and Joan O' Brien Knockcroghery}

Great credit was given to Conor Dolan, Paddy Garvey and Patrick Garvey for transforming an ambitious Tidy Towns vision into reality.

Eileen paid special tribute to Laura Gallagher, Conservation Ranger, National Parks and Wildlife Service for her outstanding positive support and advice.

Also thanked for their support, advice and commitment were;

John Mockler, Roscommon Municipal District Coordinator

Eimear Dowd, Tourism Officer, Roscommon Co Council

Eilish Canty, Rural Recreation Development Officer, Roscommon LEADER Partnership

Cathryn Hannon, Regional Manager NPWS

Niall Cribbon, District Conservation Officer (Peatlands)NPWS   

Eileen Fahey pointed out that through the co-operative efforts of Kilteevan Tidy Towns, National Parks and Wildlife Service, Roscommon Co Council, Roscommon LEADER Partnership Company and the local community, new life has been breathed into Cloonlarge boglands. The Loop is now a very popular 5km walk and cycle enjoyed by many locals, families and visitors.  

The ultimate compliment was paid to our work when a local bride and groom came to the Cloonlarge Loop for wedding photographs. A recent walker described the Loop “an oasis of peace and calm”. This is exactly what we wanted to create Eileen stated.

Pictured above

Interagency support for Kilteevan Tidy Towns on the Cloonlarge Loop L/R

Niall Cribbon, District Conservation Officer (Peatlands)National Parks and Wildlife Service, Marguerite Croghan, Secretary Kilteevan Tidy Towns, Eimear Dowd, Tourism Officer, Roscommon Co Council, Eilish Canty, Rural Recreation Development Officer, Roscommon LEADER Partnership, Cathryn Hannon, Regional Manager, National Parks and Wildlife Service, Laura Gallagher, Conservation Ranger, National Parks and Wildlife Service, John Mockler, Roscommon Municipal District Coordinator.

February 5th 2020