Two-day gathering for celebration of Ballymacraven River to take place in Clare

Clare County Council is supporting a programme of community art and science projects to explore nature along the Ballymacraven River. 

'Fish Live in Trees' is a two-day gathering on October 2-3 which pays tribute to nature on and in the Ballymacraven River in Ennistymon, where over 2,000 fish died in May 2023. It also celebrates the community effort, led by the Restore Ballymacraven River Association (RBRA), that came together to restore the river. Local volunteer members of the RBRA planted over 1,600 native Irish trees along the lower Ballymacraven River corridor and as a result, fish are now returning.

Eva Birdthistle, Creative Communities Engagement Officer, Clare County Council, said, “The Ballymacraven River fish kill in 2023 sparked a huge community response. Fish Live in Trees is a powerful testament to that response and to how creativity, care for nature, and collective action can bring about positive change. Creative Ireland and Clare County Council are proud to support this gathering, where art, science and community spirit flow together to honour the river’s story and the people who are helping it to heal.”

In May 2025, artists Anne Cleary and Denis Connolly interviewed Ruairí Ó Conchúir (LAWPRO) for the 'Fish Lives in Trees' documentary. Ruairí is a co-founder and volunteer member of the RBRA and he was joined on location by Bill Keane, a local fisheries officer with Inland Fisheries Ireland, along this river, which is a crucial salmon spawning ground.

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Ruairí Ó Conchúir, LAWPRO, explained, “Trees along a river provide shade, they help cool the water, they provide a root system where the fish can hide and be protected. The phrase that is often used - I certainly use it - is that ‘fish live in trees’.”

The 'Fish Live in Trees' gathering is part of Catchments 2025, an environmental awareness project bringing artists, scientists and communities together on seven water bodies in Ireland this year, produced by Cleary and Connolly through a Research Ireland Discover Award.

Anne Cleary, artist, said, "The project aims to give as many people as possible the chance to feed into important conversations surrounding water quality and biodiversity loss in habitats along Ireland’s waterways. Eventually we plan to visit and make art with communities in all 46 catchments in the country. This year, as well as this project on the Ballymacraven River, we are meeting communities along six other water bodies, including the Liffey Head Bog in Wicklow; the River Dodder in South Dublin; the Boyne River in Meath; Lough Muckno in Monaghan; the River Shannon in Limerick, and the River Lee in Cork City.”

Denis Connolly, artist, added, "Just simply taking time to look more closely at nature, to do a drawing, take a photograph or write a few lines of poetry helps build our understanding of and empathy towards the natural world, inspiring people to care for the environment more in their daily lives".

The programme is funded by a Research Ireland Discover Award, by Clare County Council’s Creative Ireland fund and by the Department of Education. The team are also grateful to the Courthouse Gallery and Studios, the UCD Earth Institute, the Local Authority Waters Programme, the Ennistymon Community Centre and Restore Ballymacraven River Association for their help and support.

All events are free, but booking is required to ensure a place. To find out more about 'Fish Live in Trees' and to book an event, go to: https://www.schooloflooking.org/CATCHMENTS/Ballymacraven-PROGRAMME.html