The Inishowen Rivers Trust has six members on the Board of Directors. All board members work in a voluntary capacity. Our current Chairperson is Claire Thompson (Malin). The other five members of the Board are: Mark Davenport (Culdaff), Margaret Farren (Gleneely), Rosemarie Moulden (Doherty) (Carndonagh), Mervyn Norris (Tremone) and Ronan O’Doherty (Buncrana).
Claire Thompson
Claire has been involved in environmental matters most of her life, as her parents were both naturalists and ecologists. This work included conservation and restoration projects, and many hours of species recording.
As a former kayaker she formed a strong awareness of hydro morphology and river issues. Claire has been a member of IRT since the early days and is always keen to get stuck into volunteer events.
Mark Davenport
Mark started out as a volunteer with the Inishowen Rivers Trust in 2018. As a keen angler, Mark spent many days fishing on the Culdaff River as a youth, learning about riparian habitats, fly life and the wildlife found in and along the river.
Training with the inishowen River Guardians, Mark excelled in his knowledge of rivers and bird life and ultimately became a self-employed bird surveyor. He still found the time to help out with the Trust and his expert understanding of river processes has been a great asset to the Trust, in particular for our natural flood management projects. Mark has been a trustee with the Trust since 2020.
Margaret Farren
Margaret Farren – a primary teacher – has been active for almost thirty years in the preservation of the history, culture and natural heritage of her locality.
She was a member of The McGlinchey Summer School, for which she collected a treasure trove of oral history and was active in organising talks and field-trips to sites of historical and environmental interest.
She was on the committee for the preservation of St Columba’s Old Church in Straid and contributed articles to and edited their publication on the history and cultural significance of the church. She is an enthusiastic participant in the Inishowen Traditional Singers’ Circle, and a member of the organising committee of its annual Traditional Singing Festival in March.
Through these associations, she was approached by The Inishowen Rivers Trust to write an online presentation on the traditions and folklore surrounding the Cloontagh River, which she delivered both to the school children of the area and to their parents. Subsequently, she agreed to join the Board of the IRT, impressed as she was by the “passion, commitment and expertise” of the individuals she encountered within the organisation.
Rosemarie Moulden
Rosemarie is an archaeologist and also has qualifications in countryside management and fisheries. She has been actively involved in various heritage and community projects, particularly in the Inishowen area. She has directed and supervised archaeological excavations throughout Ireland and was involved in the efforts to conserve St Columba’s Church in Straid, Clonmany and also Carrickabraghey Castle. Rosemarie was a member of the McGlinchey Summer School and founder member of Lands of Eogain and has extensively researched the heritage of Inishowen, with a special interest in the prehistoric rock carvings on the Isle of Doagh.
Currently, she is curator and manager of Inishowen Maritime Museum. She has greatly contributed to preserving and raising the profile of Inishowen’s ancient monuments and religious sites. She was also involved in the TIDE project, a historical VR experience entitled “Wrath of the Atlantic Wrecks of the Armada at Inishowen Maritime Museum & Planetarium. On top of all her other achievements Rosemarie is also a serving board member for Inishowen Rivers Trust for many years, her commitment to serving her community by preserving and promoting local history, culture and ecology projects in her local environment is to be applauded.
Mervyn Norris
Mervyn is one of the founding members of Inishowen Rivers Trust, and was there for the very first meeting in 2015, when setting up The Trust was first proposed. He first served on the board in 2015 and helped set up the Trust as a Charity and a company limited by guarantee.
Mervyn has worked on the land all his life. He is also a keen angler and has a great knowledge of our land and our rivers. He is interested in promoting biodiversity on farms. He also helps to run the amazing award winning Trean House B&B with his wife Joyce.
On top of all the work he does in his day to day life, he also finds time to serve on Inishowen Rivers Trust board and to volunteer for events.
Ronan O’Doherty
Ronan O’Doherty has a wide background from fisheries development to project management in both the public and private sectors, including assisting on various boards, and involvement in community development projects.
Ronan is currently employed as administrator in the Inishowen Uplands European Innovation Partnership and the ACRES Donegal programme. Interaction with DAFM, farmers, operational group members and other stakeholders and team members is a key part of his current role.
Ronan brings a broad range of administrative skills and relevant management experience to the Board of Directors of Inishowen Rivers Trust.