Welcome!

Bat Conservation Ireland (Caomhantas Ialtóg na hÉireann) is a Charity dedicated to the conservation of Ireland's bats. We promote conservation of bats by disseminating educational materials, giving talks and leading bat walks, carrying out nationwide surveys and monitoring of bats, acting as an umbrella group for the local bat groups and providing a central repository for bat records.

Events in 2012

Keep an eye on our events page for the new list of bat talks, walks and other events of the 2012 season. Bat Conservation Ireland welcomes the 17th Meeting of the Advisory Committee of EUROBATS to a three day meeting in Dublin in mid May. Ireland will host representatives from the other 32 parties to the Agreement on the Conservation of Populations of European Bats in Dublin Castle. For live updates see Twitter. 2011-2012 is the International Year of the Bat so we will continue to organise plenty of events to celebrate! Coming up this year we have the 7th Irish Bat Conference planned for September in Sligo. Training workshops for Daubenton's bat surveys will also take place across the country. Check the events page for details.

Landscape Conservation for Irish Bats

Bat Conservation Ireland commissioned a study by The Centre for Irish Bat Research into bat's use of the Irish landscape and we are proud to announce the final report for the study can be found on the publications page of this website, click here to download a pdf of the report In addition, you can browse through maps of bat landscape suitability on the website of the National Biodiversity Centre. Click on 'Bat Landscapes' to see the dataset.

Waterways 2012

If you are interested in participating in the survey in 2012 you can find more details on the monitoring page.

WHITE NOSE SYNDROME

A new fungal disease that has caused deaths of over 1 million bats in the U.S. has now been found in France. Bat Conservation Ireland has more information on White Nose Syndrome (click here to download pdf) and recommends that bat workers and cavers familiarise themselves with guidelines to prevent the spread of this fungus that is potentially lethal to bats.

Who are you going to call? BAT HELPLINE 1800 405000

The National Parks and Wildlife Service, the part of the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government charged with conserving wild habitats and species, now has a dedicated BAT HELPLINE SERVICE for anyone with queries or worries about bats. The number is 1800 405000 and is open during weekdays. BCIreland's contact details are also shown below and we are always happy to help with batty queries.

National Bat Count 2011

Dates for the National Bat Count 2012 will be announced this spring

DVD ON IRISH BATS AVAILABLE NOW

A DVD packed with information, images and film footage of Irish bats has been produced. Proceeds from the sale of this DVD will contribute to BCIreland's bat conservation work. For more information on the DVD and instructions how to buy it please click here.

Contact details

Bat Conservation Ireland's address and telephone number are: Ulex House, Drumheel, Lisduff, Virginia, Co. Cavan. Tel: 086 4049468