Upcoming Events

Biodiversity WeekBat Walk 25th May 9.30pmWe are delighted to introduce yet another NEW local host to the growing list of Dark Sky communities and to welcome Keenagh, a small community just on the edge of Wild Nephin National Park/ Mayo Dark Sky park. As it is Biodiversity Week we have a BAT Walk in Collaboration with Mayo Bat Group and Bat Conserva...

Women in Dark Skies - Next speaker Yana Yakushina22nd May 2023 7pm (ONLINE only)Yana's talk title is Legal and Policy trends towards Light Pollution Mitigation. This is such an important and current issue. Ireland has no protection for biodiversity or human wellbeing against light pollution. Yana will discuss her work as a lawyer and researcher in ...

Lots of events for our next Dark Sky Road Show all over Mayo!   International Dark Sky Week 2023 International Dark Sky Week, which takes place from 16-22 April is, as its name suggests, a global affair, organised annually by the International Dark Sky Association.On this global stage, Ireland is playing a leading role, particularly in Co...

Our Weekly Dark Sky Walks continue until 31st March.  Dark Sky Walks are gentle and for all abilities on flat terrain (on gravel path & short board walk).  We traverse a 2.5km loop to experience the dark skies of Mayo and of course make use of a clear sky for stargazing if conditions allow.    Remaining d...

Mayo Events for Irish Astronomy Week  |  20-26th March 2023 This event is jointly hosted by Newport Astronomy Club www.newportastronomyclub.com From the 20th to 26th of March 2023, the inaugural Irish Astronomy Week goes ahead with events taking place indoors and outdoors throughout the thirty-two counties. Also, during that week astronom...

The Wonders of Mayo's Night Sky Brian Wilson Astrophotographer  - 23rd March 8pm Part of Irish Astronomy Week We are delighted to welcome Brian Wilson back to Newport to talk about his amazing work as an Astrophotographer in Mayo for Irish Astronomy Week. Brian will introduce his work and experience of taking photos at night and how to go...

Dark Sky and the Arts Women in Dark Skies - Teddie Hwang - 21st March 7pm (ONLINE EVENT ONLY) Part of Irish Astronomy Week Teddie is a historical flutist and photographer based in Mainz, Germany. Ever since being introduced to astrophotography in 2020, she has been fascinated and inspired by the night sky. In this presentation, she will demonstrate...

We have a really exciting programme organised for the 2023 Dark Sky Champion training course for our tourism and hospitality businesses in County Mayo. Two guest speakers have kindly agreed to join us and we will host workshops in Westport and in Ballycroy (approx 2 hours per event, repeated in both locations). Duncan Wise of Northumberland Dark Sk...

Special Guest Dr. Sibylle Schroer who will present her talk "Human Centric versus Nature Centric Lighting" Monday 6th February at 7pm / Online Event  To open our 2023 series of talks, we are thrilled to welcome Dr Sibylle Schroer to present her talk entitled "Human Centric versus Nature Centric Lighting" In 2017, Sibylle received the Galileo A...

Dark Skies at Night Be part of Irish Research by joining one of these weekly walks in Mayo Dark Sky Park wonder | wellbeing | escape | wilderness | retreat | companionship | fear | nocturnal | mythology | hygge | adventure | comfort | tourism | sustainability | excitement | nature | culture | conservation Would you associate any of these concepts w...

Dark Skies at Night Be part of Irish Research by joining one of these weekly walks in Mayo Dark Sky Park wonder | wellbeing | escape | wilderness | retreat | companionship | fear | nocturnal | mythology | hygge | adventure | comfort | tourism | sustainability | excitement | nature | culture | conservation Would you associate any of these concepts w...

Moving out of this world…. from angels and demons to photons and quarks…we cannot wait to hear from Brother Guy Consolmagno SJ – Director of the Vatican Observatory and co-author of the classic astronomy book (with Dan Davis) "Turn Left at Orion". Brother Guy will be presenting his talk on "Catholic" Cosmologies in Newport on Sunday afternoon. ...

Join Professor Kevin Gaston, University of Exeter, to hear about his work on the environmental consequences of light pollution. Kevin is also a board member of the International Dark Sky Association and has recently co-authored (with Dr Alejandro Sanchez de Miguel) this Annual Environmental Review paper reviewing the impact light pollution has on p...

Astrophotography is the focus of our gallery exhibit at Ballycroy Visitor Centre, and we are delighted to welcome the return of Chasseurs de Nuits with the Award winning collection of works from the Photo Nightscape Competition. Chasseur de Nuits exhibition is kindly sponsored by the Embassy of France and joins the existing exhibition of talented a...

Friday 23rd of September is #CultureNight and we look forward to celebrating it at the #BallycroyVisitorCentre in #WildNephinNationalPark An entertaining evening with traditional music by local musicians and a chance to try some delicious boxty. Sean Lysaght will be launching his book 'New Leaf' and we'll finish off the evening appreciating our won...

The Mayo Dark Sky Festival is back with a bang! In 2021, covid restrictions meant that the festival could not go ahead as planned, so we are really looking forward to welcoming people back to Newport, Mulranny and Ballycroy from 4 - 6 November, for a feast of events celebrating Mayo's dark unpolluted skies. This year we will have talks by Brother G...

Newport is considered the gateway town to Mayo Dark Sky Park and has been a community host town to Mayo Dark Sky Festival since its inception. The town is becoming known as a dark sky destination, attracting a growing number of international visitors in winter months, boosting the local tourism economy during the off-season. How...

Guided Stargazing - a new activity for Nature Parks and Resorts ONLINE Event - 22nd September at 7pm (registration below).   We are delighted to welcome Etta Dannemann to our series of Women in Dark Skies talks.  In this talk, Etta Dannemann will talk about Guided Stargazing as a new activity for dark sky areas. She will explain how hosts...

We are delighted to celebrate Heritage Week 2022 with a number of events of a dark sky theme, both in person and online and hope you can join us. As the darker evenings are just around the corner, Heritage Week is the perfect opportunity to start thinking about looking up into our lovely dark skies and enjoying the celestial skies above - assuming ...

Join us for the next episode in our "Women in Dark Skies" webinar series. We are thrilled that Dr Hannah Dalgleish will be our next guest speaker for our series entitled "Women in Dark Skies". This webinar will be at 7pm on Friday 17th June - everyone is welcome! Hannah is a researcher at the University of Oxford in astronomy for developm...

 Biodiversity Week 13-22nd May Monday 16th MayJoin us in Newport for an Open Evening to launch the next phase of the community Lighting Project for the town. The Friends of Mayo Dark Skies obtained support from The Heritage Council, and a new pilot test for lighting begins in Newport with expert lighting designer Kerem Asfuroglu.Community memb...

We're delighted to launch our events for International Dark Sky Week 2022 - Mayo Dark Sky Road show is back in person this time! We have no less than NINE events, back to back across County Mayo. As it's been a while since we could take our events to communities, we are going back to basics this year with introductory talks and events on ...

Join us for the second episode in our "Women in Dark Skies" series. We are delighted to welcome Dani Robertson, Dark Sky Officer from Snowdonia Dark Sky Reserve. You may have seen Dani recently on the BBC's Countryfile programme giving a wonderful explanation of Dark Sky Lighting for rural areas. Dani is a leading advocate for protecting our dark s...

Dark Sky Champion Workshops For Tourism and Hospitality Trade in Mayo Supported by Failte Ireland in partnership with Mayo Dark Sky Park and Blackrock Castle Observatory Mayo is home to Ireland's only Gold Tier International Dark Sky Park.With easy access sites from the Clew Bay and the Wild Atlantic Way, this visitor attraction has caught the imag...

Our new series of web talks "Women in Dark Skies" starts appropriately on St Brigid's Day. Our first speaker of the year is Dajana Bjelarac, Founder of "Carpe Noctem" in Serbia - an NGO established to tackle environmental light pollution. Dajana's talk is titled "Defending the dark skies with resourcesfulness and creativity" Join Us from 7pm on Tue...

The Ballycroy Visitor Centre will be closing for the season on Sunday October 31st. To mark the occasion and coincide with Halloween and what would normally have been the Mayo Dark Sky Festival weekend, some special events have been organised as below and in the image. Friday - 29th October 7pm – Dark Sky Social evening with Night themed Music and ...

International Observe the Moon Night is an annual world-wide public engagement event that encourages observation, appreciation, and understanding of our Moon and its connection to NASA planetary science and exploration. Everyone on Earth is invited to join the celebration whether observing at home or at an organised event.   Our team at W...

Join us in Ballycroy for a self-guided looped walk especially for Space Week. Find out what makes our precious Peatland Ecosystems so similar to "Our Place in Space" and how protecting our local habitats will also help keep our world habitable. You can download this special booklet launched for Space Week 2021 Below:  File Name: SpaceWeek2021_...

We are connecting the three official dark sky places on the island of Ireland with 3 special live online events for teachers, educators and anyone with an interest in astronomy, archaeology or dark skies. These events are all free to attend and available via Dark-Sky.eventbrite.com Schedule of events:  Tuesday 5pm 17th August, 2021 Join OM Dar...

We are sharing the Dark Sky LOVE and inviting new communities seeking dark sky status to join a special event on how to create a dark sky place.  With expertise from the International Dark-Sky Association, USA and Unihedron, Canada, this a blue-print for how to create a dark sky place in Ireland.  Registration is via a Zoom link below. &n...

Join our guides for a Bat & Nature Walk as dusk falls, followed by introduction to the Night Sky over Mayo Dark Sky Park.  We can facilitate up to 15 people (maximum) per tour by prior booking only to   Weather permitting we will enjoy some stargazing and perhaps even a meteor or two for those stay...

Free webinar on lighting for dark skies - Wednesday 16th June at 7pm We have been invited by Engineers Ireland to co-present this talk, together with Prof Brian Espey on Lighting for Dark Skies.  The talk is open to anyone but hosted by Engineers Ireland and appropriate to Engineers involved in lighting design and those who wish to l...

  International Dark Sky Week, which takes place from 5 - 12 April is, as its name suggests, a global affair, organised annually by the International Dark Sky Association.  On this global stage, Mayo is playing a leading role, with a series of events from astronomy to archaeology, wildlife to wellbeing.   Mayo Dark Sky Park will al...

This annual week of events might be remarkably different for 2020 but nevertheless, it gives us all an opportunity to connect with our night skies, to consider the amazing habitat we have overhead and to reconnect with loved ones far away.  We have a series of virtual events planned in collaboration with the International Dark Sky Association and...

To celebrate Space Week 2019 and mark International Observe the Moon Night, join us in Wild Nephin Ballycroy National Park Visitor Centre for an evening of moon gazing and storytelling under Mayo’s magical moonlight. All welcome. Booking Details: Entrance is free, no booking is required. Please RSVP to More information about...

The programme for the 4th Mayo Dark Sky Festival has been launched. It promises to be a very exciting weekend with events for all the family. 

For the full programme visit the Mayo Dark Sky Festival website 

Don’t miss Natalie Marr’s talk next Wednesday 18th April. It is her first time in Ireland and we have invited Natalie from Scotland to present her work “Skies Above, Earth Below”, which explores the cultural values of Dark Sky Places. Natalie is an artist and researcher based at the University of Glasgow and works across sound, video, photography, and...

Date :  24 August, 7:30pm - 8:30pm Venue :  Friends of Mayo Dark Skies - Mulranny Park Hotel  Admission :  Admission Free Booking :  Booking Required Contact :  ...

Date :  Saturday 12th August at 11PM Venue :  Murrivaugh Beach Mulranny Meet :  Meet at Mulranny Golf Club Admission :  Free Description :  Mulranny Tourism in collaboration with Ballycroy National Park Guides and Newport Astronomy Club invite you to a free meteor shower watch on Murrivaugh Beach. Wear warm clothes and Bring a...

Date : December 2017

Venue : TBA

Admission : €5 for non-members

Contact : www.newportastronomyclub.com

Date : November

Venue : TBA

Admission : €5 for non-members

Contact : www.newportastronomyclub.com

Date : October 27th-30th Venue :  Newport, Mulranny and Ballycroy Admission : €5 per talk with many free events Contact : www.mayodarkskyfestival.ie...

Date : October

Venue : TBA

Admission : €5 for non-members

Contact : www.newportastronomyclub.com

Date : 22nd September

Venue : TBA

Admission : €5 for non-members

Contact : www.newportastronomyclub.com

Date : Tuesday June 20th Venue : 8pm - The Gráinne Uaile, Newport Admission : €5 for non-members Contact : www.newportastronomyclub.com...

 To celebrate International Dark Sky Week 2017 (22-28th April) there are lots of events planned in the Mayo Dark Sky Park area. Exciting events are taking place in Newport, Mulranny and Ballycroy throughout the week and hopefully we will see you there. FREE INTERNATIONAL DARK SKY WEEK EVENTS IN MAYO Title:  A Little Night Art – Pauline McSor...

Date : Tuesday 28th March Venue : 8pm – Hotel NewportAdmission : €5 (free to members of Newport Astronomy Club)Contact : Newport Astronomy Club www.newportastronomyclub.com...

Date : Saturday 25th March Venue : 3pm - Ballycroy National Park Visitor CentreAdmission : Free (prior booking required)Contact : ...

Venue : The Grainne Uaile, NewportDate : Tuesday, February 28th 2017.Time : 8pm.Admission : €5 for non-members.Contact : Newport Astronomy Club www.newportastronomyclub.com...

Venue : Ballycroy National Park Visitor Centre, BallycroyDate : 28 & 29th January 2017Time : 11am Admission : by prior reservationCost : €20 per person (covering lunch)Contact : Mayo Dark Skies ...

Venue : The Grainne Uaile, NewportDate : Tuesday, January 24th 2017.Time : 8pm.Admission : €5 for non-membersContact : Newport Astronomy Club www.newportastronomyclub.com...