New Creative Ireland project wants to hear from Clare farmers

A NEW project in County Clare is seeking to hear from farmers about the past, present and future of farming.

Clare County Council’s Healthy Clare, Age Friendly Clare and Creative Ireland Clare programmes have secured funding from Creative Ireland to deliver a new project in partnership with Cuimhneamh an Chláir (Clare Memories), the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) Clare and Mid-West ‘Connecting for Life’.

The project, called ‘Clare’s Farmers Weaving Stories Together’ is targeting five mart areas across County Clare (Ennis, Kilfenora, Kilrush, Scariff and Sixmilebridge).

The project involves:

Cuimhneamh an Chláir (Clare Memories) facilitated sessions with the local farming community who will be discussing their experiences and views of past, present, and future farming in their area.

This information will be creatively captured onsite by a graphic harvester, who will create live visuals that tell a story, and collated into a co-created ‘Clare’s Farmers Weaving Stories Together’ booklet. This booklet will be launched in glór on Monday, November 13.

The sessions will take place in the following target mart areas: 
Sixmilebridge: Monday, September 18 (6 - 8pm) 
Ennis: Monday, September 25 (6 - 8pm) 
Kilfenora: Tuesday, October 10 (6 - 8pm) 
Kilrush: Thursday, October 12 (6 - 8pm) 
Scariff: Monday, October 16 (6 - 8pm) 
Glór: Monday, November 13 (12 - 3pm)
 
Commenting on the new project, Cllr Joe Cooney, Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, said: “This is a great opportunity for both young and older farmers to come together and chat about days gone by and what they envisage for the future. I also believe new connections and friendships will be born out of this project, along with some interesting graphic recordings.”

Pat Dowling, Chief Executive of Clare County Council, is encouraging all farmers living in or near any of these five mart areas to participate in the project and to share their views.

“As a rural county, Clare’s farmers are the backbone of our communities, and I’m delighted to see their creativity project coming to fruition with the support of all the partners,” he said. 

Dena McGrath, Healthy Clare Co-Ordinator, says she is “really looking forward to learning about and visualising Clare’s past, present, and future farming practices in real time”.

Dena also thanked “all the partners supporting the project, in particular Cuimhneamh an Chláir and the IFA Clare, and to Creative Ireland for funding the delivery of this exciting project with our Clare farmers”.

Paula Carroll, Cuimhneamh an Chláir, explained: “Cuimhneamh an Chláir are collecting and safeguarding the oral history and folklore of County Clare for many years now, ensuring that this important information is kept alive for future generations to enjoy”.

She added that she will be the facilitator at each of the events and is looking forward to “capturing and safeguarding Clare’s farming memories, experiences and hopes for the future".

Caroline Lynch, IFA Clare’s Farm Family Coordinator, said: “The farming community is an integral part of Clare’s rich history and culture. This project is a great opportunity for farmers to impart stories and traditions from each of the five mart areas. I would like to encourage farmers to participate in ‘Weaving Stories Together’”.

If you are a farmer near any of these marts and would like to participate, please contact Dawn by phone 065-6846276 or by emailing agefriendlyclare@clarecoco.ie.

For more information and to register online, click here.