Every visitor to Lullymore Heritage & Discovery Park can now enjoy the “Portal” exhibition as part of the range of activities on offer. The exhibition is housed in the Park’s Purple Heather Café and is an immersive visual exploration through the realms of unique flora and fauna within Ireland’s bogs, wetlands and eskers, revealing the hidden gems that have lived and evolved for millennia.
Ray Stapleton, Manager of Lullymore Heritage & Discovery Park said: “We are so proud to have the first permanent exhibition of Tina’s work and feel the Park is a great home for it. For many years, the Heritage Park have been actively involved in rewilding our peatland area and telling the story of its stunning wildlife and how the peatlands have shaped local culture and history to people from all around the world. This resonates with visitors and is more important than ever given our need to increase biodiversity and mitigate climate change. For us, this starts with people appreciating what we have and wanting to protect it. Tina’s work reflects the natural treasure that these peatlands are better than anyone we’ve seen before and the exhibition will greatly assist us in raising awareness and giving more to customers of the Park.”
Tina Claffey, Photographer said “Lullymore Heritage & Discovery Park is a wonderful place to celebrate our beautiful peatlands and I am so grateful and honoured to have my exhibition here in this special venue.”
The title ‘Portal’ is a reference to ‘portach’ (bog) and more importantly, for its reference as an entrance/gateway to another world. In recent times, we have all been forced to slow down and truly appreciate the world around us. This is very true for the photography I specialize in-macro photography. In order to truly see and capture these wonders, I slow down to the hum of life within the bogs & wetlands, and only then does Mother Nature reveal her gems to me. Lichens become enchanted forests, caddisflies weave magical houses to house their soft aquatic bodies, mystical lichen goblets appear that are fit for otherworldly kings and queens. Tentacles of carnivorous sundews poise like a cobra ready to strike, while wondrous sphagnum mosses lay in frozen waters in suspended animation, their feathery limbs outstretched surrounded by magical bubbles. All Images are from Tina Claffey. Tina has just released the book “Portal – Otherworldly wonders of Irish Bogs, Wetlands and Eskers” and it’s available in Lullymore Heritage & Discovery Park and all major bookshops or to order online at www.currachbooks.com
You can view more of Tina’s images on www.tinaclaffey.com and find out all about Lullymore Heritage & Discovery Park on www.lullymoreheritagepark.com
