Residents from across the Ballinfoile Mór, Castlelawn,
Ballindooley and Bóthar na Choiste areas are asked to attend a Community Night
at 7pm on Thursday January 12th in the Menlo Park Hotel when a number of
grassroots organizations will be undertaking a recruitment drive as well as showcasing
services and projects provided by local volunteers.
Community & Environmental Volunteerism in Ballinfoile Mór
The Ballinfoile Mór Community Organic Garden, Cumann na bhFear
(Men’s Shed) and the recently established Terryland Forest Conservation
Volunteers will be collectively promoting a wide array of skills that they
presently can offer residents as well as advertising others that they need
voluntary expertise on.
Over the last year, members have offered courses or
mentoring on metalwork, organic gardening, mural painting, cycle maintenance,
hedgerow planting, scarecrow construction, nature studies, heritage awareness,
computing, cooking, drystone walling and woodturning. But assistance is
required in other areas such as basket weaving, plumbing, orienteering and
wildlife pond construction.
The Makers - The (Almost) Lost Art of 'Making Things'
We are endeavouring to help people from all backgrounds and
of all ages to once again rediscover the ability and enjoyment of ‘making things’.
It is about moving away from being primarily a nation of consumers to being once
again creators of everyday items and produce.
Furniture Restoration
Another fundamental principle of ours is that the skills
taught or the expertise provided are feed into projects that directly benefit
the wider local community.
The contributions of these groups and that of others such as
the Castlegar Boreen Festival have breathed new life into the locality, tapped
into the often hidden talents of individuals, awakened interest in local heritage
and biodiversity and in the process imbued many inhabitants with a proud sense
of purpose and of place.
Drystone Walling in the Organic Garden
This type of creative community volunteerism is a modern
urban version of the Irish rural tradition of ‘Meitheal’.
The herculean efforts of committed volunteers are helping to
transform Ballinfoile Mór and engendering a sense of neighbourliness.
Harvest Day in the Community Organic Garden
Ballinfoile Community Organic Garden: Local Food Produce & Wildlife-friendly
In the
organic garden, residents have built wooden hurdle fences, gravel paths, drystone
walls, native hedgerows, a large clay pizza oven, a ‘bug hotel’, a kitchen and
an outdoor stage; planted herbs, vegetables and fruit trees; organized
gardening courses and harvest festivals. Schools and youth groups have
undertaken art programmes such as making scarecrows, painting murals as well as
organising nature activities.
In the last year, the garden has been bestowed with the Galway City Mayoral Community Award and was runner up in the national Pride of Place Award.
Hand Prints of Children & Adults Painters Decorate the Door of the Garden's Kitchen
Men's Shed Movement Arrives in Galway city
 |
| Michael McDonnell welding at Cumann na bhFear, Ballinfoile |
The recently established Cumann na bhFear (Irish = Men's Club) Ballinfoile Mór is modeled on the international Men's Shed Movement that originated in Australia a number of years ago. Taking its name and theme from the idea of the male of the household working on his hobbies in the garden shed, the Ballinfoile branch provides a friendly meeting place for men of all ages to try out new things and work on meaningful tasks at their own pace. There is a strong emphasis on projects that have an environmental and social value and that keep alive traditional Irish crafts and skills from metalworking to woodturning.
Blacksmith's forge at Cumann na bhFear
The local members built a
blacksmith’s forge, purchased an array of tools including a wooden lathe, restored old furniture and farm equipment, provide classes in a range of skills from woodturning to
panel-beating, organise monthly cycle repair workshops for all ages and serve
as a venue for the manufacture of props and set designs for youth theatre
groups and facilitate rehearsals for young musicians.
Farming Implements: - Before Restoration
Farming Implements: - After Restoration
Galway City Council leased to the group an excellent two story premises (complete with workshops, meeting room, kitchen, toilets and offices) in the Sandy Road Business Park.
Community-planted Silver Birch trees in Terryland Forest
Conservation Volunteers for Terryland Forest Park
The new Conservation Volunteers group for the Terryland Forest Park
will be involved in tree planting, boundary structure repairs, path
maintenance, nature tours, biodiversity enhancement and community clean-ups.
The volunteers want to return the park to the principles of its founders when they established the park in the late 1990s in order to create a large urban woodland populated by native Irish trees that functions both as a Wildlife corridor and a People's Park. By creating a forest in an urban setting, it was to serve as the Lungs of the City, encourage citizens to reconnect to Nature and act as a sanctuary to indigenous flora and fauna at a time when across the planet, commercial farming, habitat fragmentation, deforestation, pollution, road construction, urban sprawl and the resulting global warming is leading to a mass extinction of species.
Household Waste dumped in Forest Park
Community initiatives
in Castlegar include some wonderful heritage signage along the old rural
bótharin network.
Heritage Signage in Castlegar
Tracks 'n' Trails across rural Galway City
The Friends of the Galway Forest coordinate regular community clean-up of the city's parks, undertake heritage
cycle tours on the east side of the city and will be working with other NGOs such as Castlegar Connect to
develop a series of greenways linking the castles of Tirellan, Castlegar, Menlo and
Clooncauneen.
In September the group collaborated with Councillor Frank Fahy and local land-owners in starting the clean-up of an old bog road near Carrowbrowne that will act as a vital link in this pioneering trail. This particular botharín has been destroyed by organised criminal dumping of a vast quantity of fridges, cookers and furniture that has contaminated the environment and ecology of the area.
Constructing a Greenway near Carrowbrowne. Michael Tiernan holds a traditional 'grappler' used in times past to clear water-logged ditches of debris
At the Community event, Councillor Fahy will also outline proposals on heritage enhancement
whilst Rosie Webb, senior executive architect at Galway City Council, will showcase
a series of maps produced by the architectural students of the University of
Limerick that provide information, analysis, plans and guidelines on the regeneration
of the Terryland Forest Park as an important cultural and amenity facility as
well as a primary wildlife habitat.
Beautiful rural landscape of Castlegar
The current recession caused by the greed and gambling
antics of an oligarchy of bankers, property speculators and certain politicians
has dashed the dreams and expectations of so many ordinary people. It has led to
mass unemployment, high emigration, an increase in criminality, the closure of
many community partnerships and an upsurge of depression amongst so many.
Making a 'Bug Hotel' Ballinfoile Mór Community Garden
But becoming involved in pro-active neighbourhood schemes
can empower citizens and foster a sense of belonging and of personal value to
a community.
Volunteerism is the gel that binds people together in a
positive manner, particularly in times of economic and social stress.
Community Tree Planting in Terryland Forest Park
You Can Make A Difference!
Together We Can Make Ballinfoile Mór A Wonderful Place to Live In!
So Get Involved, Sign Up for a Local Volunteer Group & Attend
Our Celebration of Community Initiatives at 7pm on January 12th in the Menlo
Park Hotel
