Sustainable Living Skills Weekend
Booking Workshops
Select a date and then the workshops of your choice.
No booking required for talks.
Saturday 27th
- Dry Stone Wall Building, full day
- Wild Foraging, full day
- Willow Basket Weaving, full day
- Free guided walkabout on Sustainability in Action in Brigit’s Garden, 2pm (no booking required)
Sunday 28th
- Willow Basket Weaving, full day
- Introduction to Scything, full day
- Forest School-inspired day camp for children, half or full day AM & PM
- Coil Mat Weaving, half day AM
- Gardening for Wildlife, half day AM
- Herb Walk and Salve-Making , half day AM
- Herb Walk and Making an Aromatherapy Spritzer/Spray, half day PM
- Free talk: What is the link between a cup of tea and climate change?, 2.15pm (no booking required)
- Free guided walkabout on Sustainability in Action in Brigit’s Garden, 3.30pm (no booking required)
Lunch is included in full-day workshops and can be booked separately for half-day workshops. It will comprise a hearty soup, homemade brown bread, a selection of autumn salads, and tea/coffee with cookies. Numbers are limited so early booking for workshops is advised. Read more about each course below and click to register! No advance booking is required for the free sessions.
Saturday 27th September Workshops
Dry Stone Wall Building with Fergus Packman
Saturday 27th Full day workshop, 9.45am – 4.30pm. €85, includes coffee break with scones and lunch. Learn from a master wall-builder how to construct a traditional drystone wall out of local limestone. You will be hands-on, learning the techniques of laying the foundation, choosing the best stone, building the wall and capping it off.
This workshop will be held outside so please dress appropriately. Steel-toed boots are recommended if you have them. Gloves will be provided.
Wild Foraging with Jörg Müller
Saturday 27th Full-day workshop 9.45am – 4.30pm. €85, includes coffee break with scones and lunch. An engaging, hands-on day of foraging with Jörg, expert forager, medical herbalist and founder of Solaris Tea. We will explore many of the culinary, medicinal and energetic values of wild plants in Brigit’s Garden. Includes a classroom part where we will prepare the herbs into a wild herb smoothie and a foraged tea.
Please bring good footwear and dress for the weather.
Willow Basket Weaving with Thomas Delaney
Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th Full-day workshops, 9.45am -4.30pm. €90, including coffee break with scones and lunch.
Learn the ancient craft of weaving baskets out of willow from a master basket-maker. Over the day you will make a traditional breadbasket to take home.
Sunday 28th September Workshops
Introduction to Scything with Andrew Ilsley
Sunday 28th Full-day workshop 9.45am – 4.30pm. €85, includes coffee break with scones and lunch.
Experience the ancient skill of cutting hay and grass with a traditional Austrian scythe. You will learn all aspects of the craft, including the proper posture and movement for effective mowing, and how to sharpen and maintain a scythe. Andrew will also advise on meadow management and the ecologically friendly and low-impact benefits of scything.
All equipment provided. Please wear suitable outdoor clothing and strong footwear.
Forest School-inspired day camp for children
Sunday 28th – morning session 9.45am – 12.45 pm and afternoon session 2 – 4.30pm, €12 each.
Children ages 6-11 are invited to join us for a half or full day of nature adventures in our Forest School-inspired day camp. Lots of fun with natural crafts, activities and games. Camps are run by a fully qualified leader with years of experience bringing children into nature.
Camps will be outside so please dress children appropriately and pack snacks and lunch, if you wish.
Coil Mat Weaving with Carol Barrett
Sunday 28th, morning workshop, 9.45am – 12.45pm. €38, includes coffee break with scones.
Expert crafter and forager Carol will show you how to make your own handcrafted place mat from sedges and cord using natural, locally-sourced and sustainably harvested materials. All materials will be provided. This workshop will be held in the group shelter in the woodland – please dress appropriately.
Wildlife-friendly gardening with Kay Synott
Sunday 28th Morning workshop, 9.45am – 12.45pm. €38, includes coffee break with scones.
Gardens are important for wildlife. This practical workshop will show you how to turn your garden into a vibrant home for butterflies, birds, bats, bees and other pollinators. Kay will cover simple, cost-effective measures for providing food, water and shelter for a range of wildlife, and advise on the best plants. Suitable for gardens of all sizes.
You will also get a chance to make a bird feeder or fat-ball holder to take home.
We will meet in Brigit’s Garden, and then walk across the road to Kay’s garden, where the workshop will be held. It will be mainly outside so please dress appropriately.
Herbs for Healing – a Herb Walk and Salve-Making with Tonja Reichley
Sunday 28th Morning workshop, 9.45am – 12.45 pm. €38, includes coffee break with scones.
Join herbalist Tonja for a meander around the meadows and hedgerows to discover what flowers and plants are ready for harvest, to infuse in oils for healing and nourishing salves for the body. We will identify wild and cultivated plants, learn the ethics of wildcrafting and which parts of the plants to use for a variety of remedies. You will learn how to make a herbal infused oil and create a salve to take home.
Full day option – take both of Tonja’s workshops with lunch included, €85 (add both workshops and lunch to your cart and add coupon code: 2herbs).
Scented Herbs – a Herb Walk and Making an Aromatherapy Spritzer/Spray with Tonja Reichley
Sunday 28th Afternoon workshop, 2 – 4.30pm. €34.
Journey with Tonja around the Celtic Gardens discovering herbs, trees and flowers that hold resonance for each of the seasons, especially engaging our olfactory sense of smell. We will discover herbs of Lughnasa and ways that we can work with them, mirroring ways our ancestors may have used them. You will take home the scents of Lughnasa through creating a seasonal aromatherapy spray or spritzer.
Full day option – take both of Tonja’s workshops with lunch included, €85 (add both workshops and lunch to your cart and add coupon code: 2herbs).
Free talks – no booking required
Sustainability in Action with Declan Doherty and Jenny Beale
Saturday 27th 2.00 -3.15pm and Sunday 28th 3.30 – 4.45pm. Free session, all welcome Join us for a walkabout to see sustainability in action in Brigit’s Garden - we will look at solar PV for generating electricity, battery storage, a biomass boiler, an anaerobic digester and composting for food waste, cordless electric garden machinery and planting for biodiversity. There will be lots of information, tips and discussion, with ideas to take home.
What's the link between a cup of tea and climate change? With Jacinta Barins
Sunday 28th 2.15 -3.15pm in the Hazel Room. Free session, all welcome Expect to be engaged, informed and inspired as retired UN diplomat and climate mentor Jacinta offers a ‘climate conversation’ on this vital topic. She will demystify climate change, look at why we need to take action, and lead a practical discussion on what we can all do and how we can have an impact.
This weekend has kindly been supported by funding from Community Foundation Ireland and SSE Airtricity Generation Green Community Fund.
Please arrive 10 minutes early for a prompt start.
Brigit's Gardens terms and conditions
We hope you enjoy your visit to Brigit’s Garden. Please note the following arrangements.
Brigit’s Garden special events
- If you are a member availing of a discount, please bring your membership card with you on the day.
- Limited concession tickets are available, please contact Theresa to enquire: theresa@brigitsgarden.ie
- Complimentary admission passes are not valid for special events.
- For all outdoor workshops, please be sure to dress yourself and children appropriately for the weather.
- In the event of unsuitable weather, outside workshops will be moved indoors, where practicable.
- Tickets are non-refundable except if the event is sold out and we resell your ticket, in which case we will refund you the cost less the booking fee and 20% administration fee.
- If the event is cancelled, we will refund you the cost of the ticket less the booking fee. Events may be cancelled where a Met Eireann red weather warning is in place, or in other unavoidable circumstances.
- We reserve the right to refuse admission to ensure the security, safety and comfort of all guests.
- Dogs are not permitted at special events.
- Admission is at the ticket holder’s own risk. Brigit’s Garden will not be held liable for any loss, injuries or damages sustained at the event including damage, theft or losses to property and motor vehicles if the cause is due to the negligence of the ticket holder or the unforeseeable actions of other patrons or third parties.
Media
We may arrange for photographers to take photos or video at special events. We will ensure that close-up photos or videos of you or your family will only be taken with your written consent. We will let you know who is taking the photos, what they might be used for and how they will be stored. There may also be independent media present as well, who will also seek appropriate consents.We use photos and video to publicise future events on the website and in press releases, and to upload to our website and social media channels.
These Terms and Conditions are subject to change.