Friends of Mayo Dark Skies launches “Community Constellations for DarkSkies” a new project for 2025, funded by The Heritage Council.
We are delighted to share this Press Release from The Friends of Mayo Dark Skies Community Group (“Mayo Dark Skies”):
Mayo Dark Skies is delighted to announce a brand new project for 2025 “Community Constellations for Dark Skies” has been funded by the Heritage Council. This exciting initiative builds on the success of Mayo Dark Sky Park (awarded International Dark Sky Place of the Year in 2024) and represents the next step in County Mayo’s journey toward becoming an International Dark Sky Reserve. A customised template for dark sky interpretation will be developed and tailored for up to 10 communities to showcase their unique local identity as a dark sky destination; connecting a network of dark sky communities under the concept of a dark sky community constellation.
The project has appointed Kerem Asfuroglu of Dark-Source to design the interpretation pieces based on community input; creating insightful aspects of interpretation to engage visitors with the natural nightscape of the area. According to Amy Flanagan (Friends of Mayo Dark Skies):
“Each participating group will form part of a county-wide Constellation…a symbolicand community-guided network of Star Points, united in their commitment to protecting the night skies over their locality. As the constellation of Star points grow… so too will the public’s understanding of the value of dark skies, not only for stargazing and tourism, but for biodiversity and cultural heritage.”
The project will also provide a network of sky quality meters so each location can promote the quality of their night skies and be part of an international research project. Joining the dots of these participating communities will create a new constellation shape for Mayo as an icon for the project, representing the strength of community collaboration. For more information on qualifying criteria, please see our form in the QR code below.
Community groups are invited to complete the application form by the deadline of Monday 14th July 2025.
