Pre-famine village receives international travel award

A CONNEMARA pre-famine village has won an international travel award, conferred by a jury involving Nobel prize-winning economist Dr Joseph Stiglitz.

Cnoc Suain outside Spiddal, Co Galway, is the only European winner in its category for the 2010 Travel Leisure Global Vision Awards.

The awards recognise the outstanding efforts of individuals and organisations with a commitment to preserving the world’s natural and man-made environment.

Along with Dr Stiglitz, the seven-person jury on Travel & Leisuremagazine's panel includes World Monument Fund president Bonnie Burnham.

Cnoc Suain secured its placing for “cultural immersion” in the “preservation category”. It is among 19 winners selected worldwide from a list of nearly 150 nominations.

"Cnoc Suain is a beautifully restored hill village, offering a thorough immersion in local culture. Bog walks and classes on the Irish language, music and storytelling combine with picturesque surroundings and centuries-old stone cottages to form a microcosm of traditional Ireland," the November edition of Travel & Leisurestates.

“Thanks in part to its ecology programme for local students, Cnoc Suain has also made environmental stewardship a key element of its heritage preservation efforts, [while also displaying an] exemplary approach to cultural tourism.”

Cnoc Suain has been described by the magazine as “a trailblazer and a powerhouse in promoting sustainability and mindfulness of the earth’s – and mankind’s – precious resources”.

The award is the latest in a series secured by the pre-famine clachán or hamlet which was restored by musician Dearbhall Standún and geologist/botanist Charlie Troy.

The hill village’s residential and non-residential programmes in specific activities such as music, organic gardening and the Irish language “without angst”, are designed to appeal to the domestic, European and north American market.

Last year, it received third place in the ethical travel section of the Guardian, Observerand guardian.co.uk travel awards for 2009.