Blessed with Bounty
At this time of year, when the harvest is at its peak, the vegetable patch is groaning with produce, the hedgerows are dripping with blackberries and the sea is teeming with mackerel we can be grateful that we are blessed with such tremendous bounty. And much of it is practically on our doorstep. It shows that an actual local food economy is within our grasp as long as we keep forging ahead with local food projects.
Kinsale Community Supported Agriculture is one such project. One of the first of its kind in Ireland, its members have not only successfully grown their own oats and turned them into edible porridge, but this year they are experimenting with a South American grain-like crop called quinoa. Quinoa can be eaten as an alternative to rice or couscous, is rich in protein and has a balanced set of amino acids for humans. It is also gluten-free, making it easy to digest and it also grows well in the Irish climate. This could be another first for Kinsale!
The summer was less than warm this year and TTK’s Jeannie Timony brought us a series of highly successful talks and wonderful workshops that were informative, educational and entertaining.
Ted Cooke’s Woodland Walk
This leisurely paced walk was held on a (rare) hot sun-drenched day in July, making it easy exercise and also a great social and learning event. The gorgeous Doon Woods smelled and looked absolutely glorious and the 25 people who attended the walk found Ted to be a passionate and knowledgeable speaker on ecology and natural history.
He explained how our hedgerows were developed and how natural succession and natural regeneration works. He also talked about how Ireland’s townland names provide and important key to the historic ecology of a place, e.g. “Dun Daru” meant Fort of the Oakwood. He spoke of the many species in the woods and their ecology as well as the geology of the woods. We had a wonderful picnic break, giving everyone time to socialize and lay on the grass in a sunny clearing in the woods. It allowed everyone time to absorb some much needed hot rays whilst enjoying the delicious shared food. All in all this was a thoroughly relaxing yet very informative social event.
Ted and Jeannie Timony have since worked on a pamphlet which will celebrate Doon Woods biodiversity and ecology with notes taken from the walk, which will soon be available to buy at a low cost.
Agro-Homeopathy Workshop with Mark O’Sullivan
What, you may ask, is agro-homeopathy? The question was answered at this practical workshop with Mark O'Sullivan, homeopath, environmentalist and I.T. teacher. Mark taught us how to manage our gardens sustainably and without toxicity, how to heal fungal and bacterial diseases and balance nutrient excesses & deficiencies. He explained with great clarity how we can restore damaged or traumatised plants and soils, how to prepare and apply the homeopathic remedies for plants. Ever wondered how you could get rid of garden slugs without resorting to toxic repellents? Mark showed how all manner of pests from slugs to beetles and various larvae can be deterred in a safe, effective, non-toxic manner. This was a jammed-packed well taught workshop and so successful that Mark will be return at a later date to do another workshop, in Spring 2012.
The Work That Reconnects workshop with Dearbhaile Bradley
The material for this workshop was developed by Joanna Macy, one of the world’s foremost and eminent eco-psychologists. Eco-psychology explores ways to heal ourselves and society by reconnecting with each other, our communities and our planet to build a sane and sustainable future.
What a pleasant surprise this workshop was, with Dearbhaile leading us through some wonderful experiental exercises to help us find, explore and develop the inner resources we all need to cope with the challenges of living in a rapidly changing world. People in Ireland have just experienced a seismic shift in the collapsing of the unsustainable “Industrial Growth Society” and even though we may on some level have accepted the long term inevitability of such a collapse, it is a very different matter to actually experience the reality of the economic downturn.
There is such an overwhelming wealth of information as to how the world as we know is in meltdown and very little grasp of how to take the “baby steps” now that can lead us to the sustainable future that is our only chance of survival. This workshop gave us the opportunity to find and live true to a more satisfying set of values that those offered by our materialistic culture. The feedback from participants was very positive:
“Amazed at what profound experience it was. I was expecting a very interesting talk, instead I found I moved through fears and with heart opening exercises”.
“I had many special moments through the evening workshop”.
“This was an excellent workshop. I loved the work where we paired off. These new ways of communicating are really important. Thank you.”
TTK hopes to hold a full-day workshop on the same theme sometime in 2012.
TTK at Kinsale Arts Week
‘News from the Future’ by Laughter She Wrote
During Arts Week’s Family Green Day, local theatre company ‘Laughter She Wrote’ performed an interactive show called ‘News from the Future’ on the Bowling Green, Municipal Hall. It was a promenade performance combining comedy and some food for thought.
We found out what would be making the headlines in Kinsale in 2025. Some of the stories included: ‘Tidal Energy Powers the Music at Charles Fort’, ‘Virgin Mary-Shaped Vegetables Found by Kinsale Green Growers’, ‘Success for Local Entrepreneur's New Line of Clothes Made out of Rubbish’, ‘Paddy the Farmer's Slogan "Poo = Profit" is Catching on as the Anaerobic Digester Generates Money’ and ‘Floods Devastate Kinsale’.
There was a large map of Kinsale and children got involved creating the scenes in the stories. They loved placing their houses on the map (some decided to put theirs in the sea or in Charles Fort!), flinging the cars away when pedestrian walkways were introduced and throwing water balloons signifying the floods. A panel of experts answered audience questions and discussed the issues faced in 2025. The experts were Paddy the Farmer, a fish and a young scientist (not too young as he was 9 in 2011 and is thus 23 in 2025).
The show was hugely entertaining and informative for all the family. Many thanks to Alicia and Breda from ‘Laughter She Wrote’ and Liz Creed and Kinsale College of Further Education Drama Department for props.
Search words for YouTube: ‘Kinsale News 2025’.
Transition Tourists
Every summer TTK receives emails from from abroad with requests to visit the birthplace of the global Transition movement. We are privileged and a little humbled to be held in such high regard, but it is always a pleasure to meet people from other countries who share our concerns and are keen to forge a similar path to resilience and sustainability.
This sumer we had a group of six Korean students from their ‘Global Youth Leadership Trainsing Porgramme’, making it the fourth visit to Kinsale by people from that country. The reason? Korean national TV filmed our Spring Fair in 2007 and since then we have been receiving them. We are happy to share our experience of a community responding to looming and inevitable decline in energy supplies and climate change. They in turn are keen to learn how much progress our community has made since its inception five years ago and what tips we can give them for starting their own Transition initiatives.
European Learning Partnership
TTK has become involved in a rather unique project with a number of organisations from around Europe including Transition Sweden. ‘Teachings for Transformative Change’ came together for the first time at a house in Sandycove last August to explore tools for helping people to deal with change both individually and at community level. Ten participants from Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Austria spent three days getting to know each other, holding workshops and developing processes as part of a two-year long EU-funded educational programme. The results of the research will be shared via a workshop or series of workshops to be held in Kinsale within in the next year or two. It promises to be envelope-pushing, ground-breaking stuff.
Kinsale Community Allotments
An acre of land has become available to us on Compass Hill to be used as allotments. We are just at the planning stages so far and there is much work to be done. All being well, allotmenteers will be able to start growing next Spring. If you are interested contact Mary Minihane at: 086 2363607, 021 4777866 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Smiley Award
This month’s TTK Smiley Award goes to Kinsale Farmers’ Market which has finally returned to the heart of the town in Market Quay where it began and where it rightfully belongs. The market creates a delightfully lively atmosphere there, builds community spirit and also brings in much needed business to town. We wish them all the best of success.
For more information or to get involved:
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Transition Tow Kinsale is an inclusive voluntary community initiative exploring responses to climate change and energy depletion. All are welcome at our events.
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