Dinnseanchas Summer Update
Photo: Síomha Brock
The Dinnseanchas project has passed all of its initial milestones and is now in full flight. We have our 6 artists out working in their communities, our artists-in-residence gathering inspiration, our our film and photography crew documenting everything, our researcher-in-residence gathering input for her work, consultants working alongside us and we have some exciting additions to the project, including storyteller Aindrias de Staic, who is creating video pieces around people’s reactions to climate change.
Ardnaculla Summer School 2024 in early June was an opportunity for the entire team to meet again. All the artists contributed to the summer school, which was funded by the Creative Ireland funding for Dinnseanchas. We also had a chance to gather in one of Hometree’s meadows on the Sunday morning and reconnect with each other.
Members of the Dinnseanchas project gathering in one of the Hometree meadows during the Ardnaculla Summer School.
Since then, the artists have been immersing themselves in their fieldwork. It’s wonderful to hear the stories that their communities have shared, to see the images of some of the spectacular locations and landscapes, and to catch up with their updates as the artists themselves travel a road of curiosity, discovery, and new connections.
The ingredients for a good chat in Ireland! Photo: Síomha Brock
Some themes are clearly starting to emerge from people living in Ireland’s western uplands. These include issues around isolation and the lack of opportunity to connect, issues around care and responsibility within communities as well as care for the land and what that means. It’s clear that communities are concerned for their own futures as well as the future of their land. Some of the artists have noticed that there is fear that local knowledge is being lost. There are also very practical concerns around land management, insurance, access, and the reality of what new policies will mean for them.
The Dinnseanchas project was born out of an understanding that the vision that a group like Hometree have for Ireland’s uplands may not match the vision that upland communities and farmers have for their own places. It is an attempt to understand and to listen; to delve into the dinnseanchas of each place.
Researcher-in-residence, Jennifer Ahern, with Mike O’Shea on his farm in Canuig on the Iveragh peninsula in south Kerry. Photo: Síomha Brock
It is also about nudging and attempting to reach agreement on how we can best balance the needs of communities with the needs of nature and the very urgent necessity to combat climate change and biodiversity loss. Irish people are well versed in climate change and there is a general understanding of the need to change and to protect our biodiversity. However, we also have a tendency to resist change and to feel that biodiversity is low down on a list of priorities that also includes housing, health and the cost of living. There is a lack of trust in new policies and schemes. Our group of artists are not experts in these measures, but they are well skilled at listening, at thinking creatively, and at building community and supporting people in developing new visions for their own futures.
Helping with the shearing on an organic farm in the Coomhola Valley, Beara Peninsula. Photo: William Bock
As part of their immersive residencies, our community artists have already had some wonderful experiences. Róisín joined a community meeting about a project investigating the genealogy of local families - a popular theme that drew a good crowd. William has been roped in to assist with shearing sheep, which anyone who’s tried will know is no joke! Zoë has hiked up to some high commonage in the Slieve Mish accompanied by local farmers who filled her with folklore and stories as she went. Síomha and Jenny joined Mike O’Shea for a day on his farm alongside his Kerry Social Farming participant and carer and came away with a deep appreciation of farming and local heritage. Peadar Tom hosted an evening of ‘ceol, caint agus comhrá’ for the community in Joyce Country. Heather and Patrick have been out and about in Lyracrompane meeting with the group responsible for guarding nests of the extremely endangered breeding curlew. As the summer progresses, the artists will continue their work within communities and within their own practices of reflection, research and creation.
Poster advertising the first Dinnseanchas event in Maam, Co. Galway.
Keep an eye on the Hometree socials for updates over the summer months. If you’d like to get in touch with the project, email Lucy at lucy@hometree.ie. We’d love to hear from you, especially if you’re in one of the communities where we have a resident artist. Very loosely, these are the Borlin and Coumhola Valleys on the Beara Peninsula, the Iveragh peninsula in south Kerry, the Brandon area of Corca Dhuibhne, Lyracrompane in north Kerry, Maam and northern Connemara, and Glenveigh in Donegal.
Keep an eye on us! Photo: Síomha Brock