Biodiversity Summer School at Kylemore Abbey

What to Expect

Green Sod Ireland runs its Biodiversity Summer School at the Notre Dame Kylemore Abbey Global Centre in Letterfrack over the weekend of Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 August 2026, in partnership with Notre Dame Kylemore. Each day runs from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM. The programme is a run of talks rather than field trips, covering river restoration, fish populations, peatlands, machair habitats, mosses and moths.

Those topics are not chosen at random for the setting. Connemara holds some of the most intact blanket bog and machair grassland left in Ireland, and the rivers of north Connemara carry salmon and sea trout populations that have been the subject of long-running restoration work. Holding the school at Kylemore puts the audience inside the habitats being discussed. The weekend ticket covers all talks across both days and includes lunch and dinner on the Saturday and lunch on the Sunday. Individual session tickets are also released for anyone who cannot commit to the full weekend. Refunds are available up to four days before the event.

Good to Know

• Dates: Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 August 2026, 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM each day.
• Venue: Notre Dame Kylemore Abbey Global Centre, Kylemore Abbey, Letterfrack.
• Topics: river restoration, fish populations, peatlands, machair, mosses and moths.
• The weekend ticket includes all talks plus Saturday lunch and dinner and Sunday lunch.
• Single-session tickets are available separately for those who cannot attend the whole weekend.
• Ticket prices were not published at the time of writing. Check the Eventbrite listing. Refunds up to four days before.
• Organised by Green Sod Ireland with Notre Dame Kylemore.

Getting There

Kylemore Abbey is on the N59 between Letterfrack and Leenane in north Connemara, roughly 80km and about ninety minutes’ drive from Galway city by way of Oughterard, Maam Cross and Recess. There is a large car park at the abbey. Public transport is limited: Bus Eireann and private operators run Clifden services along the N59 that pass Kylemore, but frequencies are low and the last returns can be early, so check timetables carefully before relying on them. Clifden, about 15km west, and Letterfrack, about 5km, are the nearest towns for accommodation over the weekend.