Joyce Country & Western Lakes awarded Global Geopark status

Image: Joyce Country & Western Lakes Geopark.

Ireland has a new UNESCO Geopark with the recent granting of Global Geopark status to Joyce Country & Western Lakes Geopark, in Connemara, north Galway and south Mayo, writes Brian Byrne. This brings the number of UNESCO Geoparks on the island of Ireland to five.

The initiative was originally started in the early 2000s as a local voluntary effort to increase tourism in the area, based on the important geology, landscape, and related traditions and culture. A €1.9 million grant in 2019 from the Rural and Regional Development Funds supported the development to work to the UNESCO level.

This Geopark was awarded its status based on its 700-million-year geological history. The other geoparks on the island are the Cuilcagh Lakelands in Fermanagh and Cavan, the Copper Coast in Waterford, the Burren and Cliffs of Moher in Clare, and Mourne Gullion Strangford, wholly in Northern Ireland. There are 229 UNESCO Global Geoparks in 50 countries.

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