Creating a giant 'Fairy Ring' at Christmastime

 

Volunteers from the Tuatha and Cumann na bhFear came together just before Christmas to create a giant fairy ring in the centre of the sacred Oak Grove within Terryland Forest Park.

A circle of fungi is a beautiful natural phenomena in nature that is the surface representation of a network of small threads, called mycelium, that form part of what we now refer to as the Wood Wide Web, a mutually beneficial underground communications and resource-sharing system connecting the trees of a forest.

In mythology these mushroom circles were known as Fairy Rings where the 'little people' merrily danced in the woods under the moonlight.

William Butler Yeats mentions this in his poem The Stolen Child:

"...We foot it all the night,
Weaving olden dances
Mingling hands and mingling glances
Till the moon has taken flight..."

 

These giant toadstools were made from concrete by the brilliant Michael McDonnell, one of the finest of Galway craftsman. Under his supervision, Tuatha volunteers will make more of these beautiful sculptures next month that, when put in place in the forest and individually painted, will be used by school children to sit on in another exciting and fun Outdoor Classroom.

Oak Groves are associated as places of learning and ceremony during Celtic pagan and early Christianity. Our Oak Grove where the fairy ring is located comprises a circle of oak trees planted by volunteers in March 2000

Celebrating Diversity at Christmas in a Galway university research centre.

 

For 12 years I and my colleagues use the goodwill spirit of the festive Christmas season to organise an event that celebrates the cultures of the staff/students of the Data Science Institute at the University of Galway where their families and friends are invited.

This year we had exhibits populated with the images, cuisine, beverages(non-alcoholic) and traditional dress representing Africa, Australia, China, Germany, India, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, USA, Pakistan and Turkey.

 

In a time of increased incidents of military conflict, genocide, ethnic cleansing, racism, forced migration, economic disparity, biodiversity loss, and extreme weather incidents caused by global climate change, it is important that we highlight and celebrate the benign cultural attributes of the populations of the world. We should not fear differences but instead recognise that variety is after all the spice of life. Hence we should recognise that humanity can and does blossom by having multiple religions, dress, music, art, skin tone and societies. For life would be so boring if we all looked the same, acted the same, dressed the same, cooked the same food…

 

Furthermore, we not only had festive music and a jolly Santa Claus bearing gifts for the young (& not so young!) but also prizes for the best cheeses (at a special cheese stand), best cultural outfits and stand as well as a beautiful Chinese folk dance known as the ‘Dance of the Peacock’ performed by our colleague Huan Chen.