Connell Family

Mike Connell, along with his three sons, farms 75 acres on Inchbofin Island in Lough Ree Co. Westmeath. The land has been in his family for several generations, and his uncle John Connell was the last resident to live on the island in 2017. These days Mike operates an extensive, low input suckler system with around 12 Charolais/Limousine cows. Due to the practical challenges of island farming, all livestock, machinery, and feed must be transported by raft. Cattle remain on the island year-round.

A central focus of the farm is habitat management for breeding wader birds. Mike has actively restored shoreline habitats by mechanically removing encroaching scrub and reopening traditional open ground spaces required for many waders to breed and raise their young. On the island there are breeding curlews, lapwing, redshank, and oystercatchers. Mike participates in the Breeding Waders EIP where he manages grazing pressure, stocking density and shoreline habitats carefully to protect nesting areas. Predator control, particularly targeting mink, is an ongoing priority and is viewed as critical to the success of ground-nesting birds on the island.

Through long-term involvement with conservation projects, Mike has developed a strong environmental awareness, complementing and guiding his farming activities on the island. Inchbofin island contains important heritage features, including a 12th and 13th century monastery now under OPW care. Looking ahead, Mike’s objective is to maintain a balanced farming system that supports livestock, wildlife, and cultural heritage. His three sons' keen interest in farming and nature on the island provides him with confidence for the farms long term continuity.

Nomination (Owen Murphy, Breeding Waders EIP):
Mike, and his sons, were the first landowners to sign a Wader Action Plan with the Breeding Waders EIP. Mike has been extremely diligent in delivery of his management agreement, which aims to help the success of the ground-nesting birds on Inchbofin. Mike has grown-up farming this island with his Uncle (RIP), and has developed a deep understanding of the need for faming practices that are in tune with the cyclical nature of the seasons. Mike's knowledge of the species using the island has grown and he currently factors the potential effects on breeding birds of any jobs he wishes to undertake on the farm. This simple step of thinking about how any action on the farm, no matter how insignificant, will impact Inchbofin's Breeding Waders, or their habitat, is the epitome of the EIP's conservation objectives. Because of Mike's understanding and dedication to the conservation of Breeding Waders, and indeed migratory and over-Wintering waterbirds, he is now implementing conservation grazing, with Native breed Droimeann cattle on the recently acquired, State-owned Clawinch island, also on Lough Ree. This again shows how progressive Mike is and how determined he is to see Breeding Waders persist in healthy number in the Lough Ree SPA.