Celebrations in Kerry as communities mark Green Flag award success

Among the winners this year were some of the county's key parks but also several awards were given to rural communities who have worked hard to create environmental friendly open-spaces.

The county received five Green Flags for Tralee Town Park, Childers Park & Woodlands in Listowel and the Tralee Bay Wetlands, as well as the Killarney House & Gardens, managed by the NPWS, and the OPW managed Derrynane Historic Park.

These were among the 120 public greens places recognised in the 2024 awards, which includes parks, gardens, greenways and wildlife sanctuaries around the country today.

The award acknowledges excellence in the management of those green spaces which are freely open to the public. Ireland leads the way for other EU countries in terms of Green Flags awarded.

In addition the county also received several other awards with Sneem leading the way when with two awards.Sneem Development co-op and Sneem Tidy Towns received a Green Flag Community Award for their Garden of the Senses and Sneem Community Garden was named as the Community Garden Winner in the Pollinator Plan category.

In addition, Derrynane, and Killarney House & Gardens were awarded Green Heritage Site Accreditation and Tralee Bay Wetlands Eco & Activity Park, was declared the overall winner of the 2024 Pollinator Plan Award, and Town Park winner.

Mayor of Tralee, Cllr Mikey Sheehy warmly welcomed the awards and paid tribute to the Council staff and everyone who contributed to the success in the Green awards.

"As Mayor of Tralee, I am delighted that both Tralee Town Park and the Tralee Bay Wetlands has been named as Green Flag winners. We are hugely fortunate in having such fantastic open spaces, freely available for the public to use, and these awards not only recognises the hard work that the staff do in ensuring these public spaces are available and accessible, but also reflects Kerry's natural beauty. The winners throughout the county are to be applauded for their efforts," he said.

Sneem Tidy Towns entered the Garden of the Senses for the first time this year and is delighted to hear that the garden has been awarded a Green Flag Community Award. The Green Flag Community Award brings the award to community initiatives such as Community Gardens, Community Parks, and Tidy Towns Projects. Additionally Sneem's Garden of the Senses was one of three of the 2024 applicants that were given a special award for their work supporting pollinating insects.

Jane O'Sullivan from Sneem Tidy Towns said the award is recognition of their work.

"We are absolutely delighted to achieve both the Green Flag Community Award and Green Flag Pollinator Plan Award for the Garden of the Senses in our first year of entry. It is a recognition of the foresight of Sneem Development Co-operative Ltd which purchased the 2 acre site for the community in 1968 and designed the Garden with the visually impaired and wheelchair users in mind, including raised beds and stone kerbing alongside the paths," she said.

"Over the years the garden has matured and developed and brings great enjoyment to the community and visitors with its children's maze, willow tunnels and paths through woodland and wild areas to the more formal rose beds and borders. The garden contains community allotments and a polytunnel where local gardeners can rent a bed and grow their own food and there are herb beds for everybody to use."

Jane explained that in the the past 3 years, Sneem Tidy Towns has been working closely with Inclusive Sneem to add more sensory play items to the garden. With the support of Kerry County Council's Community Support Fund, they have added a sensory butterfly and colourful outdoor chimes and the garden hosts an outdoor sensory play event during Sneem Summer Festival.