In the wake of successful riverine events across Galway city and county for Culture Night last month, organisers of Corrib Feile-FLOW are planning a larger lakeland festival to unite towns and villages across the entirety of Lough Corrib in 2026, with themes of culture, environment, recreation and education.
Eight years of planning and small-scale fundraising from local and European sources is culminating in the creation of an event to energise communities across County Galway, and a small sliver of Mayo. Its challenge is to integrate - for the first time - the wealth of the Corrib in terms of its natural, built and cultural heritages.
"For many people, the Corrib is invisible; hiding there, just next to us, in plain sight," says Denis Goggins, a director of Corrib Beo, which is an amalgamation of more than 20 angling, agricultural, heritage and community groups with links to the largest lake in the Republic of Ireland.
Goggins hopes a large-scale festival will help galvanise Galway's city and county councils, and Fáilte Ireland, into properly supporting and funding the Corrib as an environmental and recreational asset on par with Lough Derg. It has more than 50 'points of interest' highlighted by public bodies as part of the Shannon navigation and the Ireland's Hidden Heartlands tourism product, compared to fewer than 10 currently signposted on Lough Corrib.
"The endpoint of all this is ultimately the wellbeing of the Corrib - culturally and environmentally - and there is a lot of goodwill for that we need to harness," says Goggins.
Corrib Beo and the Corrib Catchment Partnership - another amalgamation of angling and community groups - ran three days of events from September 19 titled 'For The Love Of Water', celebrating the beauty, heritage, and ecological importance of Lough Corrib. These included an art exhibition and lectures in Oughterard Court House, music and talks around the bonfire on Inchagoil Island, biosecurity advice and education at Galway City's Commercial Boat Club, and a kayaking session from Steamers Quay.
Meanwhile, the Western Regional Operational Committee (ROC ) of the Local Authorities Water Programme (Lawpro ) met in Headford last month. The meeting focused on the Lough Corrib catchment, including presentations from the OPW about drainage schemes, pollution of the Owenriff River, and European funding for farmers to drive water quality improvements.
