Kate Harrold

Choose from a field trip to Lough Gur, County Limerick or a school visit. Kate is the site manager for Lough Gur and will use her unique insights to cover history, geography and science to inspire students.

Lough Gur is a site of international significance in environmental and archaeological terms. With over 2,000 monuments in a 5km radius Lough Gur is the perfect location to explore the natural environment and to learn about the ages of humankind.

(Option A) The field trip visit to Lough Gur option includes the following activities:

• Active exploration of the lake of Lough Gur including how it was formed, the life that lives in the lake and how it is cared for to maintain water quality.
• Examination of Lough Gur’s quest to gain international dark sky and international quiet space accreditation. A look at how collecting and analysing data is important to raise awareness and improve care for our natural environment.
• A visit to Lough Gur Heritage Centre to find out about the first Neolithic settlers to Lough Gur and how they worked with the seasons and weather to survive.
• Creepy crawly and local birds activity to find out how ecosystems function together.

(Option B) For the 'in classroom' option the following activities are included:

• In person visit using the Lough Gur online tour to study historic monuments and the natural environment.
• A look at how we can monitor environmental data using digital technology.
• Activity to chart how local and national government agencies play a key role in caring for our environment and how we can make a difference at a local level.
• Mapping activity using the Historic Environment Viewer website archaeology.ie.