When you mention bats, don't mention the V word

The desire to dispel popular misconceptions surrounding bats was one of the reasons Brian Keeley founded the Dublin Bat Group, now the Bat Conservation Group Dublin with 200 members, in 1989. He began organising local talks, and was quickly in demand at schools.

Donna Mullen was one of the interested people who went along. She is now married to Brian; and their sons, Fionn (five) and Ferida (three), understand far more about bats than most Irish adults.

Keeley and Mullen operate a bat helpline for roost owners, hold school talks and organise public walks and lectures with visiting speakers. They are also involved in the INTO/Heritage Council's Heritage in Schools project.

"It's ironic," says Mullen. "Dublin Corporation is sponsoring bat boxes in city parks, while in the Botanic Gardens in Melbourne they are culling 1,000 endangered grey-headed flying fox. We are protesting to the Australian government." If the average adult is disappointingly squeamish about bats, most children are at least curious - many are natural enthusiasts. On arriving in the nature room at the Pearse Museum in St Enda's Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin, our group heads straight for the bat exhibition, which includes models of the Irish species at twice their actual size. All eyes fix immediately on the life-sized flying fox, a large beautiful "megabat" with a six-foot wing span found in Africa and parts of Asia, including India, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. The nature room, presided over by Philomena O'Malley, a true bat fan, is a hands-on museum and a fine introduction for children, not only to bats, but also to Irish wildlife in general.

BEST of all, though, is the presence of a Leisler's bat roost in the roof of the museum, formerly a stable block. Ireland has Europe's largest population of this species. It is our largest bat, has a somewhat furry appearance and likes parks. A Duchas site, St Enda's Park with its riverside walk, frequented by Daubenton's bats, covers 50 acres.

Although at present its funding stands at only an annual £300 from Duchas, the bat group performs a practical as well as educational function. During the final weeks of hibernation, Mullen received two emergency calls.

"A man putting on a Wellington boot in a north Dublin factory found a male Leisler's. We brought it home. The bat was a bit shook, but we gave him some dogfood and released him the following night." A couple of days later, a pipistrelle was in difficulties, also in north Dublin. Again, the Bat Conservation Group came to the rescue.

Money is a problem. As Mullen says: "It would be a lot easier getting people to sponsor bats if they looked like giant pandas". Aside from funds, she is urging Duchas to have all its properties surveyed in advance of the conservation of restoration work. "Bats are getting entombed during the repointing of old buildings." Asked to name his biggest problem in relation to explaining bats, Keeley sighs and says: "Vampires - they're the bane of my life. It's all some people think of when you mention bats". Only three species of bat, living in South and Central America, feed on blood - usually that of cattle or horses. He is also constantly surprised by the number of schoolchildren who, when asked where bats come from, confidently reply "Pennsylvania". Transylvania, it seems, is no longer quite the place it was.

Bat Conservation Group Dublin 01-8347134. E-mail batline@eircom.net.

Nature Room, Pearse Museum, St Enda's Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16. Tel 01-4934208. Open Wednesday to Sundays.