i-Lofar Telescope & Visitor Centre

The Irish Low Frequency Array Radio (I-Lofar) Telescope is in Birr, Co. Offaly. LOFAR stations consist of two 70m diameter arrays of antennas. The material for the base for both arrays was quarried on site to minimize traffic movements through Birr Town.

The project is part of a European Wide project where data These antennas pick up radio waves at frequencies from just above and below an FM radio at 10-90 MHz and 110-240 MHz. Once the radio waves have been detected, they are sent by fibre optic cables to a supercomputer centre in Holland where images are then created from them.

This project also included the provision of a visitors centre on site.