An island off Cork has launched a bid to become one of the world’s few officially-recognised dark sky sites - areas dedicated to stargazing. The island hopes to be recognised by the International Dark Sky Association. Ireland has two ‘gold tier’ international dark sky parks - one in Mayo and the other in Kerry - which includes areas such as Kells, Caherciveen, Valentia Island, Portmagee, The Glen, Ballinskelligs, Waterville, Dromid and Caherdaniel. READ MORE From Baywatch to Barleycove: New lifeguard academy launched in CorkOther gold tier dark sky parks include the Grand Canyon and Joshua Tree National Park in the US. News of its dark sky bid comes ahead of a major public meeting in Cork on Monday on light pollution, organised by Dark Sky Ireland.

Source: Irish Examiner May 09, 2019 14:45 UTC