Rathcabbin Tidy Towns Report 2023
Streetscape & Public Places / Sráid-Dreach & Áiteanna Poiblí:
You begin here with your key project, the cleaning and painting or your long wall on your eastern approach. No
small task at all. The HSE health centre and boundary walls have been painted too. Sorry to hear that you’re the
ones doing the chasing up but fair play, keep at it. You have also obtained permission to open up the church and
parochial house grounds and this will indeed open up a really pleasant amenity space but more on that later.
A section of the roof of the Community Hall has been replaced, well done and there are plans to paint the façade of
this building and develop a wildflower bed in the car park of same. Finally you have planted pollinator-friendly
species in the planting areas at the village approach areas. The National School looks terrific with its Green School
badges at the front and super use of colours.
There were lovely full window-boxes and a great owl sculpture at the front. We liked the way that the barriers had been painted up out front too. Kelly’s premises, old and new looked very well on the day. Maybe make the Community Hall your focus of attention for next year’s big project?
Community – Your Planning and Involvement / An Pobal – Pleanáil agus Rannpháirtíocht:
Fáilte Chuig Comórtas na mBailte Slachtmhara Super Valu 2023. Táimid buíoch daoibh as ucht na hiontrála a chur
chugainn agus guimíd gach rath ar bhúr gcuid oibre amach anseo. Lean leis an dea-obair! Thank you for
participating In Ireland’s longest-running environmental project and helping to make Ireland a better place. We
really appreciate all the great work that you do and the effort you put in, year on year.
Welcome back to the Tidy Towns Competition. We’re delighted to have you in Tidy Towns 2023! This is your
second consecutive entry since re-joining the competition so well done on getting your entry in and getting stuck into
the work. Many thanks for your detailed entry form which was very informative. This was supported by additional
information including a very useful map, some promotional materials and some photographs of your work
throughout the year. Well done. We’d suggest, for the benefit of those that may not know your village, to mark
which approach road is which on your map and maybe indicate which way is north. Thank you.
A total team of ten is a good one for a village the size of Rathcabbin. You meet very regularly and have a
scheduled work evening, very good. You’ve also begun to plan more strategically and that’s a good move. You
show very good signs of integrating your work with that of other community groups in Rathcabbin and that is very
encouraging. These have included your work at Christmas and the support of the parish team.
You are linking with statutory bodies including Tipperary County Council and the HSE. You have begun links with
the National School and the Principal here has been very encourage so far, it would seem. Well done on the
Sunflower project, a good one to get kids going and growing.
The specific project that you have identified for particular effort this year is the entrance to the village, you tell us.
This was no small task as it involves the cleaning and painting of a long wall. As we said above, this is only your
second entry in your current incarnation as a reformed Tidy Towns group. We are pleased to read that it has been
a good motivator for your community. We do hope that you’ll be with us on the Tidy Towns journey for many’s the
year to come.
Green Spaces and Landscaping / Spásanna Glasa agus Tírdhreachú:
Here we take up with the planting at the village entrance roads, of which there are three. On the Birr road you have
used Petunias and pollinator-friendly species in a mix, you have favoured wildflowers on the Portumna Road and
wildflowers and plants for pollinators on the Bonoham Road, very good.
You have also carried out planting here and there. In containers and at the pump. You tell us that there are 75 pollinator-friendly plants in the new bed at the church. We loved this feature! Gorgeous work and so good for pollinators – fair play. The landscape planting at the church is really well looked after. The grass at the church and parochial house is immaculately kept and the roses to the back of the church are lovely too. The little recessed box planter on the stone wall looks super. Maybe consider perennials for this one too.
Nature and Biodiversity in your Locality / An Dúlra agus an Bhithéagsúlacht i do cheantar:
You haven’t made any entry in this category of your entry form. We understand. We suggest that you might need
some assistance in this somewhat technical category. Our recommendation is that you contact Tipperary County
Council and ask that their Heritage Officer give you some advice. At time of writing it isn’t known whether a
Biodiversity Officer might be available to you but do please ask.
You could also consider asking an environmental non-governmental organisation such as Birdwatch Ireland or the Irish Wildlife Trust if they have anyone who might be able to help you. You might indeed have a local expert that you didn’t know about! We point out here that hedgerows should not cut within the bird nesting season (March-August inclusive). On a more positive note, we point out the presence of a rookery in the big Beech tree near the bottle banks. A peaceful visit but not a quiet one!
Swallows were also abundant on this lovely evening. A Barn Owl box project would suit your setting very well, it is
believed.
Sustainability – Doing more with less / Inmharthanacht – Mórán ar an mbeagán:
Well done on a good entry here. Here you tell us that you have already begun rainwater harvesting with the
installation of water butts around the village. You have also, as your photographs have shown us, grown flowers
from seed. This saves more than just money. It also saves on energy, materials, waste, transport and even carbon.
You are mowing less frequently, you tell us and leave just a mown strip on verges, very good. Well done for liaising
with your local Community Climate Action Officer and for opening up this topic on social media.
Tidiness and Litter Control / Slachtmhaireacht agus Rialú Bruscair:
Well done on all your regular anti-litter work for the village. It’s great that you separate as you go. This is a very
positive step as you manage to save many resources by doing so including energy, water and materials. One
aluminium can takes much energy to make but can be very easily recycled into other things.
You are also keeping an eye out for clutter such as unwanted or old posters. Watch out for the cable-ties too. You have tackled something of a blackspot and better yet, you let everyone know about it. This is great as you are getting the word out too. Do please consider a big ‘everyone out’ litter-pick for the National Spring Clean and get the local GAA Club and school out for this. They tend to be very fun and positive days.
Residential Streets & Housing Areas / Sráideanna Cónaithe & Ceantair Tithíochta:
Well done for hand-delivering letters to every household in the village! You have also added a name sign to a
hitherto unnamed estate and are looking into the name of another. Great! Unfinished estate areas can be very
troublesome and even the very best of Tidy Towns groups have had struggles with these. Do try and keep this area
as good as you can. It is likely that it will be developed before long. You are also involved with the mowing of grass
in the village. You have created a pollinator-friendly area with edge-mowing only and that is a great step. Not only
that but you are promoting this throughout your estate. Great stuff indeed. You are also promoting responsible
dog-ownership through the use of mutt-mitts.
You finish here by telling us that the local shop and public house have painted their faced since last year. Further,
the railings and frontage of their original premises have also been attended to. You have also painted the gable end
of a derelict building and planted here to improve this area. There were some beautiful dwellings noted on our visit,
including some lovely conversion jobs. A shed has had its gable planted up.
Approach Roads, Streets & Lanes / Bóithre Isteach, Sráideanna & Lánaí:
You have a regular approach road check and litter-pick, very good. We saw the flowerbed on the Portumna Road
entrance as we arrived and it does indeed look lovely. You have also treated this area to a general tidy-up and
‘manicure.’ We felt that the amount of work here is just right and not ‘OTT’ for a rural village. Colourful and sets off
your black and white sign perfectly.
On the Birr entrance the hanging baskets that you have added make such a difference on this long straight approach. As we discussed, taking this approach in hand is no small project and we are delighted that the locals appreciate the work that you have put into this. The third approach road was also walked by us on this lovely evening. It was very peaceful indeed. The bottle banks here were spotless at time of visit. Well done.
Concluding Remarks:
This was a really enjoyable first visit to Rathcabbin. You’ve had a flying start but we just know that you are going to
continue to improve. Well done everyone.
