As part of the Dublin City Inclusion & Integration Week, Mudisland and the Repair Café team is delighted to invite you to a free workshop on Sunday 25 th at 2pm. Mary, one of the sewing magician volunteer will show us how to create a bespoke bag upcycling material!
There will be tea, coffee and treats kindly sponsored by DCC.
Join the 2025 Community Gardens Cycle & Biodiversity workshop!
Hey there, bike and plant enthusiasts!
Get ready for the 2025 Community Gardens Cycle, an event filled with community garden tours, cycling, and biodiversity tips. Our gathering will bring together cycling and gardening lovers from Dublin City and beyond. Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned cyclist, gardener or both, this event is perfect for anyone looking to grow their fitness, knowledge, and green thumb. Mark your calendars and come connect with fellow nature enthusiasts! Let’s grow together!
This year there is only one route:
We will meet at 11am at Mud Island Community Garden in North Strand, (check google maps).
Cycling to Raheny Community Garden
From Raheny Community Garden we will cycle to Mucky Lane for the Biodiversity workshop with Aaron Foley who is Dublin Community Growers Biodiversity officer.
From Mucky Lane we will cycle to Killester Blooms Community Garden. We plan to arrive by 2.15pm and we will join their Streetfeast.
More details, including full details of the route, to be published shortly
SPACES ARE LIMITED. Please book your space to avoid disappointment. If your plans change and you are unavailable to attend, cancel your booking to facilitate others in the reserve list to attend.
If you have not received our newsletter you might not know all the things that are happening in the garden… What you can do is join the garden online and you will then receive the news directly in your email box. Alternatively, you can keep yourself in the know by checking FB, Instagram or even the infamous X (we’re still there trying to spread LOVE :-))
For our calendar we always have a haiku and a special art picture because we do not only garden plants, we also care for local talents…
See you in the garden soon
On May 4th, Mud Island Community Garden in Dublin will host its annual Bealtaine Festival, celebrating the arrival of summer with a day full of music, poetry, and community activities. This vibrant event will feature a diverse lineup of performers, ensuring a memorable experience for all attendees.
The festivities will kick off at 2 PM with a performance by Tolka Trad, followed by a bilingual circus workshop at 3 PM that promises fun for all ages. Throughout the afternoon, attendees can enjoy poetry readings by Roxanna NíCliam and Siobhan MacMahon, storytelling by Brian Treacy, and music by local artists such as Rú Ó Sé and a local folk group.
The highlight of the event will be a special performance by the renowned musician Liam Ó Maonlaí at 6:30 PM, bringing the day to a spectacular close with his captivating music.
Mud Island Community Garden, known for its lush greenery and community spirit, provides the perfect setting for this celebration. The Bealtaine Festival is a wonderful opportunity to connect with neighbors, enjoy local talent, and welcome the summer season in a beautiful garden setting.
So, mark your calendars for May 4th and join the Mud Island Community Garden for a day of celebration, creativity, and community spirit. Entry is free, and everyone is welcome!
Well a lot…
In 2023, the garden was very busy as we opened our urban haven to multiple groups and organisations. There are so many that we are probably forgetting some. Drop us a line if you used the garden and we forgot to mention it. Big HELLO & shout out to our friends from:
Dublin Cycles Campaign annual Food Cycle (trip around community gardens) (May)
Refugee Health European conference visit (June)
Cruinniu na nog – Nature Mobile workshop (June)
Lets Set Sail (with Ellie O’Neill and Silver Birch) (July)
ATD Ireland (Altogether in Dignity with Saol, Pavee Point and more) – Festival of Change (July)
Sonnie Condell & Robbie Overson concert (August)
Ceili with Ceoltoiri Chluain Tarbh (August)
Rather Gather festivalito (September)
Huni Kui – Amazonian culture (September)
Kevin Murphy & friends (concert) – (October)
2 instrument making workshops with Masamba (October)
12th European Forum ECLLD Field trip (October)
Workequal – workshop about being confident (december)
Other partnership (ongoing)
NCIRL Early Learning Initiative After School projects (local primary schools) ‘Doodle Den’
A Playful City + Swan Youth Club / UCD students
Hill Street Family Resource Centre visits ( with one of our gardener Breffni’s workshop)
Cluid Housing Association residents (inspiration for their own gardens)
Liberty Park Creche
Young adults from Shaping Futures project, (INOU initiative)
Teacher Heather Gray (Creative Minds Arts & Culture festival)
Dublin City Community Co-operative
Our Organic Garden
Community Climate Action (on zoom)
EasyTreesie
Gaelic Woodland Project
8 week Get Growing training for learners of English (GreenFriends)
Common Purpose training organisation (innovative community initiatives)
Patuyu – bolivian dancing group (ongoing)
Take One Ingredient (ongoing)
Global Citizenship Education / Lourdes Youth & Community Service (LYCS)
Sea Scouts
Local Community Safety Partnership (LCSP) Probation & Community Service team
(Welcomed referrals from Social Prescribing workers & mental health workers to join as gardeners)
DCC’s biodiversity officer & DCC’s community climate action officer.
Afghan Kite making workshop (August)
CPR training (September)
East Wall Here 4 All, Cross Cultural Conversations, Intercultural Language Service and the lovely Integration officers and volunteers
from Gateway, East Wall.
TCD research
Cloud Café (adds to compost, brings us brownies and lend us their barbecue!)
Da Mimmo (pizzas & school project)
Tree craft (wood chip for garden paths)
Child Vision (delivering precious horse manure)
Forthcoming visits planned include students from Trinity’s Botanical Society and we are also looking for volunteers interested in getting involved with Heritage Keepers and do not miss out Tornaido Fire Performance & fundraiser March 23 rd (from 6pm)!
Festival in a van (with Narrative4) received a DCC Neighbourhood Grant to develop ‘the Stories of Hope’, a storytelling exchange
project in Mud Island in 2024 Date TBC.
We also helped some two film crews (short film shot in Alderborough House) & a small Film crew shooting onsite.
Promotional video for ‘Mad Dog’ (launch 24 th March 2024 in the garden!).
Our team of volunteers also organise our own events:
Table Quiz in Cusack’s (April), Spring Fair (in collaboration Five Lamps Arts Festival), Open Day (June), Harvest Festival (August), Halloween (700 visitors!) & Christmas Fair with our first Irish language festival, Féile na Láibe.
Seed to Pizza project with local primary schools (March to September).
And our first own Brigid’s celebration (February).
In 2023, we also had some ongoing activities in the garden, which will continue in 2024:
– Crochet & knitting group.
– Monthly Repair Café mending bicycles, clothes, crockery and sharpening gardening tools and knives
with potluck picnic and swap shop / bric-à-brac.
– Language classes in Arabic & Spanish from our volunteers (we’re looking for a volunteer to front an Irish one).
– Sewing classes / group.
– Relaxation Sundays.
And finally, we did win some awards (and we are so proud!). We must thank our funders without whom all these activities could not be:
In 2023, we got 2nd place in our section at Dublin City Council’s Citywide Neighbourhood Award 2023!
The Urban Land Institute‘s National Excellence in Place-making Award got us in the front page of the commercial property of the Irish Times. We are currently shortlisted for the LAMA (Local Authority Members Association) All Ireland Community & Council Awards 2024 under their Best Green Sustainable category. Fingers crossed!
Thanks to our trusted funders: Croke Park, NEIC and DCC, and IFSC Inner City Trust and new additions: Wheels We Deliver for pollinators and Central Bank.
So bring it on 2024!
Hello!
This weekend come along to Mudisland Community Garden for our first ever Féile Na Láibe. It is free to attend and packed with music, stories, stalls, food, drink and entertainment as Bearla & Gaeilge!
🐶 Dog friendly
🐣 Family friendly
🇮🇪 Loads Irish crafts and gifts to buy on Sunday at our Christmas market
🍲 Delicious homemade food brought by mudislanders
☕ Hot & cold drink available for fundraising
,🎶 Traditional music
💃 Irish dancing
🧶 Painting & Craft workshops
🥙 Bric à brac
🗣️ Story telling
⚾ GAA demo
🔥Fire show
🎄 Safe for all ages
Musical entertainment is provided by DJ Gav from Solar Sound, Ceoltóirí Chluain Tarbh, Mud island Céilí Band, The Tolka Hot Club Band and more! Discover and support local artists and businesses.
Saturday 2nd of December
Caravan stage:
3 pm intro and part 1 of story, singer on stage.
3.30 part 2 of story dancer on stage.
4 pm part 3 of story musicians on stage .
5.15 fire show
6 DJ Gav (Solar Sound)
Hacienda:
4pm Traditional music
Forecourt:
GAA demo / arts & crafts for kiddos / bric a brac
Thanks to #Forasnagaeilge, we have some goodies to give away, we also will be making some soup so bring your own brown bread to share!
Sunday 3rd of December
12-5pm Market stalls with delicious food and beverages to buy for our garden fundraiser!
The Tolka Hot Club Band will be performing at the market and we’ll finish of the weekend with DJ Gav from Solar Sound!
Join us in the garden for our first #popup #gaeltacht where we’ll play around as Gaeilge for the craic. Loads to do, to see, people to meet and fun to share!
You will have the chance to get some lingo before the Christmas market the next day 🎄🥳🎶
We garden every Tuesday and Saturday afternoon 2 to 5 pm and new gardeners are always welcome.
We do an introduction to the garden and planting plan on the first Saturday of each month as and when needed. When it gets warmer and the garden needs more watering we’ll hopefully open up again on Thursday afternoons for gardening, and on Sundays for recreation – we’re all volunteers so it’s dependent on people’s availability.
The Muddy Craft & Crochet Circle meets in the Cottage on Friday afternoons (3-5pm) and our new Repair Cafe was launched on the last Sunday of March, 2.30 to 5.30 pm. Bicycles were fixed, clothes repaired, crockery mended the Kintsuki way and knives & garden tools sharpened! The Repair Cafe will continue on the last Sunday of every month. Next one is Sunday 30th of April (same time!).
On Sundays, from 2:30 to 5:30, join us for our Repair Café. Bring your bike, buggy, clothes, jewelry and garden tools to be fixed (hopefully!). You can learn, you can share skills and you will meet a lot of people!
(No ELECTRICAL)
The idea: We throw away vast amounts of stuff – stuff which could get a new lease of life after a simple repair. Lots of people have forgotten that they can repair things themselves or they no longer know how. Repair Cafés are free meeting places where people come together to repair things together. In a local Repair Café, you’ll find tools and materials to help you make any repairs you need on clothes, furniture, electrical appliances, bicycles, crockery, appliances, toys, etc. You’ll also find expert volunteers, with repair skills in all kinds of fields. Visitors bring their broken items from home and in the Repair Café, they start making their repairs with the specialists. It’s an ongoing learning process.
Repair Cafés help people in the community whose skills may not always be valued to get involved again. It helps neighbours from different backgrounds connect with each other and allows valuable practical knowledge to be shared. Repairing things at a Repair Cafe means things are being used for longer and don’t have to be thrown away. This reduces the volume of raw materials and energy needed to make new products.
Discover ChangeX
Mud Island Community Garden Biodiversity Action Group (BAG) met for the 1st time on Sat April 18th. We shared a sense of collective hope from taking positive action to promote […]
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