Wild Nephin National Park, established in 1998, is Ireland’s sixth National Park and is located on the Western seaboard in northwest Mayo, covering a vast uninhabited and unspoilt wilderness. This is one of the last intact active blanket bog systems in Ireland and Western Europe. It is dominated by the Nephin Beg mountain range and the Owenduff bog. Mayo Dark Sky Park consists of the 15,000 hectares of the lands of Wild Nephin National Park, The lack of light pollution in this part of the world makes it one of the best places in Ireland to try your hand at stargazing, whether you’re camping in the wild or just sitting in the car park.

The low population density of Mayo and a territory largely unsuitable for agriculture have left the area devoid of major cities, rendering its night skies very dark. The defensibility of the Park’s dark skies is enhanced by its situation near the Atlantic coast. The prospects for maintaining dark nighttime conditions into the future are therefore very good. The Mayo Dark Sky Group steered by Georgia MacMillan has seized on the value of this local resource as a means of promoting regional tourism, and has undertaken efforts to educate residents of nearby villages on the dark sky issue and ways they can help protect the Park. In doing so they have won won the ‘Dark Sky Place of the Year Award 2024’ from International Dark Sky International https://darksky.org .

This global award recognises leadership and collaboration in advocacy and education on the importance of dark skies and the consequences of light pollution for biodiversity, nature and climate, but also for the health and wellbeing of people and communities. The award recognises partnership and collaboration with community groups and the local authority both inside and outside the Park. The Mayo Dark Sky Festival, a partnership initiative launched in 2016 and led by the Friends of Mayo Dark Skies, continues to go from strength to strength each year, attracting a growing number of international and domestic visitors and stargazers to the area. The Dark Sky Festival has become a flagship off-season event for the region and is hosted between three community locations.

The National Park Visitor Centre, located in Ballycroy village between Mulranny and Bangor, houses an interpretative exhibition of the landscape, habitats and species found in the National Park, as well as information on the surrounding area. See MAP

See https://www.mayodarkskypark.ie/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mayodarkskies

Saturday 1st March at 7pm – Ballycroy Visitor Centre

Brian Wilson Astrophotography Night

Join Brian Wilson for an evening of astrophotography. Brian is a regular photographer of the Mayo night skies and has taken some iconic images both within and outside of Mayo Dark Sky Oark. Brian has kindly agreed to share some of his expertise with us once again, Brian will introduce his work and experience of taking photos at night and how to go about photographing the Milky Way, the Aurora Borealis , Noctilucent clouds, as well as explaining the set up and detail behind some of his amazing night skycapes. See some of his photos  HERE

You can register for this talk by email to mayodarkskypark@npws.gov.ie

Tuesday 4th March at 7.30pm – ONLINE Only |

Dr Niall Smith Guest speaker for “The Universe through the Quotes of Carl Sagan”

As one of the greatest science and astronomy communicators, Carl Sagan left us a rich legacy of quotes. From Pale Blue Dots to Spirituality, his quotes and insights still have resonance today – perhaps even more resonance than when they were crafted. While we strive, and sometimes struggle, to understand our Universe, Sagan’s quotes give us helpful signposts as we debate the evidence.

This beautiful talk was last heard at the Mayo Dark Sky Festival in 2024, and we are delighted that Niall has kindly agreed to repeat the talk and bring it to a wider audience online. Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/…/register/MbqzcDseQGONa-PgeBTcqQ