Grá Fiánta Herbal

Tallamh

My name is Leasha, I am a community folk herbalist living in
Belfast.

Grá fiánta means ‘fierce love’. This is the philosophy I live by,
particularly in my work as a community herbalist. My herbalism practice
is grounded in the city ecosystem and is guided by principles of
solidarity, mutual aid, and reciprocity.

Grá Fiánta Herbal exists to empower people and communities by making
plant medicine accessible. Knowledge is power, and through my work I
hope to reconnect people with the traditional knowledge of plant
medicine. I aim to mobilise plant medicine in support of people
experiencing marginalisation and oppression, as part of the wider
struggle for rights, community sovereignty, and justice.

Through Grá Fiánta Herbal I offer educational plant medicine workshops
in collaboration with community gardens and other local groups. I aim to
share the knowledge I have collected in ways that are accessible and
useful.

I also offer free and low-cost herbal teas, flower essences, and other
remedies.

I also sell my writing work & other plant inspired creations.

>> http://www.grafianta.com/

>> https://www.instagram.com/grafiantaherbal

Buile agus Eagna na Sionainne

Council Project, Uisce

Fáilte. Be welcome to a family-friendly day of talks and activities on Sat 20th May 2023 on one of the mighty aquifer lakes that feeds the Shannon. Meet the communities of people and organisations who are the stewards and guardians actively working towards the preservation of our land. This will be a fun-filled one day family event, with activities and information providing something for everyone. We are facilitating a safe space for the difficult conversation of what rights of the Shannon could look like, or mean.

Organiser: Shannon Rights Alliance

Location: Doon Shore Amenity, Tawnytaskin, Co. Roscommon (on the western shore of Lough Key)

Date: Part of National Biodiversity Week on Sat 20th May 2023

Scheduled Events:

  • 9:45: Opening of the event
  • 10:30: Exploring aquatic life, pond dipping with Kate NcNutt (child-friendly).
  • 11:30: A storytelling with Chris Thompson: Stories in the Landscape.
  • Noon: Craic agus ceoil
  • 12:30: Talk on the River Shannon by Jack O’Sullivan: “Power, Threats and Management”.
  • 13:30: “Soul sounds of the Shannon” with Anne-Marie Hynes and a break for food.
  • 14:30: Talk by Daniel Monaghan: An ecological journey through environmentally sensitive landscapes and an insight into gold mining in Tyrone.
  • 15:45: Storytelling with John Willmott: Fire on water and the hawthorn.
  • 17:00: Celtic Kirtan with Eileen Bray
  • End of event and Open conversation around the central fire about rights of the Shannon.

Activities throughout the day:

  • Meet some of the great projects active in protecting and celebrating our natural heritage.
  • Central fire
  • Traditional music and harp
  • Reflexology
  • Hair braiding
  • Face painting
  • Story telling
  • Willow weaving
  • Children’s craft workshop
  • Moss balls craft

We operate on a zero waste philosophy and encourage self-sufficiency by event attendees.

What to bring:

  • Bring water from your own local well (the central fire will have a kettle on the go all day for herbal teas)
  • Picnic blanket or campchair.
  • Picnic food for yourself (there will also be soup and bread to share).
  • Your own cup, bowl and eating utensils.

This is a free event, although donations of support on the day will be welcome.

To ensure this is a safe and family-friendly event, this will be an alcohol and drug-free space. Children must be always accompanied by a responsible adult.


Shannon Rights Alliance is a newly formed alliance of groups with an interest in protecting the Shannon and working towards Rights of Nature for the River. We are delighted to invite your group to host a table at our launch event as part of National Biodiversity Week on Sat 20th May 2023 at Doon Shore Amenity.

The day will include talks, stories and music with the theme of biodiversity and protection of the River Shannon. Please find attached a schedule for the day. Entry is free as the event is sponsored by the Irish Environmental Network and Zero Waste Alliance Ireland. We are expecting to attract good numbers to the area and we thought it might be beneficial to you and interesting for visitors if your group wanted to host a table with information about what you do for people who visit.

We are hoping to work together with groups all along the River Shannon to find our common interests and ways to come together to ensure the River continues to be the inspiring life-giving entity that it has been for us and previous generations, and we hope will be for long into the future. As well as hosting a table, we would love to talk with your group about how we might work together towards Rights for the Shannon.

On the day arrival and set up is at 0930 – please be as self-sufficient as possible and bring your own chairs, tables, water and food.

Shannon Rights Alliance

Council Project

>> Be welcome to a family-friendly day of talks and activities on Sat 20th May 2023

Buile agus Eagna na Sionainne

The mighty River Shannon, flowing north to south, bisects Ireland geographically, in mind and in spirit. Many centuries ago, large numbers of us were driven west across the Shannon; yet we continue to love the river for what it is, for its bounty, its sacredness; its integrity and authenticity.

But while we may appear to love the River Shannon, we are failing to recognise its importance and vulnerability; instead we have tried to tame it, tried to confine it within artificial banks, used it for the disposal of waste, and promoted the river as a location for industry, with little or no control over potentially adverse consequences. We have also inadequately protected its unique ecosystems and habitats from the Cuilcagh Mountain to the Shannon Estuary, where the River merges with the Atlantic Ocean; and we have never developed an integrated plan for taking care of this great waterway.

The Shannon Rights Alliance has been born from an awareness of these problems, and our aim is to create a new approach, based on recognising and becoming more aware of the inherent wildness and wisdom of the river; as expressed in our vision and call to action:

Buile agus Eagna na Sionainne

A major part of our aim is to reignite peoples’ awareness of the authenticity of Sinann (the possessor of wisdom) as the Shannon’s mythological river deity, and to appropriately honour her.

To achieve these aims we need more than the usual systems of protection; we need to give a legal right to the River Shannon, a right no different from that afforded under our Constitution and our legal system any person or company.

We ask why should a polluting company have legal rights when the river being damaged has none? In an increasing number of countries worldwide, legal rights are now being granted to specific features of the natural environment, including mountains and rivers; and we see no reason why this should not be possible in Ireland.

To further this aim, we have lodged a formal declaration with the United Nations, and we are looking for your support to enable us to continue this important work.

Remember that caring for this great river has the potential to create a deep connection and powerful link between the communities which have been separated by Ireland’s internal political border; and it equally holds the potential to heal long-standing divisions and wounds in our country.

Resources:

Kate Flo Murphy

Imbas

Kate Flo Murphy is a photographer, filmmaker, musician and guide from West Cork. Her visual work explores the relationship between body and earth, contemplating the many ways in which the human landscape, specifically the female body, and the natural world are extensions and mirrors of each other. Kate’s imagery provides an intimate perspective on and into the body as a powerful portal and sacred vessel between realms of form and formless.

Kate strives to empower through her healing photoshoots and visual work, and reminds both the observer and participant of our greater need for connection and togetherness, and our innate power on this long and winding journey home to ourselves. Her mission is to support women in their rewilding, to remember, reconnect and reclaim their own true magic and medicine.

Many themes are touched on in her work and these are largely centred around our connection to spirit and earth to assist us in the integration of the spiritual into the physical, on our healing journey
to wholeness.

Kate’s photos and empowered embodiment gatherings encourage women to connect with their own body and to deeply root into the immediate landscape that surrounds them.

She is passionate about providing a safe space for women to come into unity, to express authentically with courage and to support one another in integrity for our collective well-being. She creates deep contemplation through portraying the beauty and the pain of this complex human experience beyond words, time and space.

Links:

>> kateflomurphy.com 

>> Instagram: @kateflomurphy

Westcountry Willows

Crainn, Eolas Ársa, Tallamh, Uncategorized

Kate Burrows began weaving baskets while living deep in the woods in a
handmade strawbale and cob roundhouse.

Natural crafts and natural living on the land has always been Kates
passion throughout life.

Herself and husband Alan built their own home, keep goats, chickens and
geese and grow all their own food. Now living out on the bogs in
Ballinlough, County Roscommon, Kate has perfected her craft to make many
different types of basket for commissions,  market stalls, shows and
festivals, she also gives talks and demonstrations, and teaches basketry
workshops all over the country.

Her latest venture is weaving natural willow coffins using her home
grown irish willows planted throughout her land. Kate will be inviting
people into her workshop to help take part in weaving their loved ones
coffins if they so wish to, taking part in creating a really special
final resting place for their beloveds final journey can be a great
comfort.

> westcountrywillows.com

> https://Instagram.com/westcountrywillows

> https://www.facebook.com/westcountrywillows

Grow It Bio

Crainn, Tallamh

For every sale we plant one native tree or shrub.

Grow It Bio is small family business based in Co.Meath, run by
Tomas and Monika Novak, producing and supplying gardening products that
support biodiversity such Irish organic plant feeds, Handmade bee
hotels, Irish native wildflowers, bird food and more. Tomas and Monika
are passionate about nature, biodiversity and environment so since 2021
they started to plant Irish native trees for every order.

https://www.growitbio.com/

https://www.facebook.com/growitbio

Freya Lawson: The peace intention

Eolas Ársa

Science has proven that our thoughts have the power to change our external reality and now we have the opportunity to make practical use of that knowledge to transform our own lives and shape the future of humanity itself.   We have the potential to write a new story in which world peace is not just an impossible dream but becomes a very real possibility. When we understand the world around us to be a mirror of our own inner state we grasp the urgency to take action to develop greater harmony within us. As we do that we open up the opportunity to write a new story for our own lives where we become the conscious creators of our own reality. 

Freya Lawton Founder, The Peace Intention

>> The Peace Intention