Mayo Dark Skies finishes project with help of Youthreach Ballina

A collaborative project has been undertaken, between Youthreach Ballina, the Mary Robinson Centre and the Friends of Mayo Dark Skies Community Group (‘MDS’). This project has connected education, creativity and local heritage, resulting in a unique reimagining of Mayo’s night skies by young people in the community. 

The initiative forms part of MDS’s ‘Community Constellations for Dark Skies’ project - a county-wide scheme, funded through the Heritage Council, which invites community groups to undertake community-driven Dark Sky Monitoring, and to mark themselves out as Star Points of Interest for Dark Sky Tourism, in order to draw in Dark Sky Enthusiasts and Astronomers, as well as underlining the importance of the conservation of Mayo’s nightscapes, and in turn, helping children name more stars through the community-led reduction of light pollution.

Participants from Youthreach Ballina were encouraged to identify and name shapes from the map of participating communities, by using references drawn from local culture, landscapes and folklore. This youth and community-led approach is aimed at creating a new layer of heritage connecting Mayo to its night sky. 

As part of the project, learners from Youthreach Ballina took part in a hands-on workshop at the Mary Robinson Centre. Working in three small groups, the students designed, and named, their own “Asterisms” (meaning a recognisable pattern of stars): An Madra Rua (The Fox), Crobh an Choiligh (The Rooster’s Claw) and Cnoc (Hill).

The initiative blended creative expression with informal science education, and an exploration of place-based heritage. The local knowledge of the youth participants shone through, to create meaningful links to each asterism.

Amy Flanagan, Mayo Dark Skies Project Administrator, said the students’ work will form part of a growing collection of community-identified constellations that will eventually be featured in a digital heritage map of Mayo’s dark skies: “The students showed great engagement and initiative,” she said. “This project is all about fostering a deep and enduring connection between today's youth and Mayo’s precious dark skies, which form part of both the common heritage of all Irish people, but also their birthright as the young people of Mayo.”

Following the workshop, learners produced illustrated posters, under the guidance of their art teacher. These artworks were presented to the Mayo Dark Skies team at a Christmas celebration held at the Mary Robinson Centre yesterday. The posters will soon be on public display at the Ballycroy Visitor Centre (Mayo Dark Sky Park/Wild Nephin National Park).

Emma Donoghue, Project Manager at the Mary Robinson Centre, who facilitated the workshop, praised the students’ participation. “They really embraced the project and put a lot of effort into it,” she said. Youthreach Ballina Co- ordinator Damian Evans also welcomed the collaboration as a community-facing initiative. “This kind of collaboration gives our students a chance to see their ideas valued and included in something wider than the classroom. It also strengthens links between education, heritage and sustainability in the local area,” he said.

The Friends of Mayo Dark Skies Community Group is funded through the Mayo Sustainability Fund (a partnership between Community Foundation Ireland and Sunflower Charitable Foundation) and is working towards the designation of an International Dark Sky Reserve for County Mayo.

This ambitious project enables communities across the county to engage in creative projects designed to celebrate and protect Mayo’s Gold Tier International Dark Sky Park.

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