Sunday 11th October 2026
Join us for another creative, inspiring and practical day of hands-on skills’ workshops in the lovely surroundings of Brigit’s Garden, all led by expert tutors.
Sunday 11th October
- Willow Basket Weaving with Tom Delaney – full day – SOLD OUT
- Dry Stone Wall Building with Fergus Packman – full day
- Living Willow Structures with Maria Buitenhuis – full day
- Autumn Foraging with Olwyn Williams – full day, with morning-only option
- Natural Cordage (String) with Carol Barrett – half day, morning
- Growing Native Trees (half day) with Saul Mosbacher – half-day, morning
A coffee break and a hearty soup-and-salads lunch is included in full-day workshops.
Numbers are limited so early booking is advised. Read more about each course below and click to register!
This weekend has kindly been supported by funding from SSE Airtricity Generation Green Community Fund.
Sunday 11th October
Willow Basket Weaving with Thomas Delaney – SOLD OUT
Full-day workshop 9.45am -4.30pm. €95 (includes coffee break with scones and lunch)
Learn the ancient craft of weaving baskets out of willow from Tom, a master basket-maker. Over the day you will make a traditional bread basket to take home. All materials are provided and no experience is needed.
Dry Stone Wall Building with Fergus Packman
Full day workshop, 9.45am – 4.30pm. €85 (Includes coffee break with scones and lunch)
Learn from a master wall-builder how to construct a traditional drystone wall out of local limestone. You will be hands-on, learning the techniques of laying the foundation, choosing the best stone, building the wall and capping it off.
This workshop will be held outside so please dress appropriately. Steel-toed boots are recommended if you have them. Gloves will be provided.
Living Willow Structures with Maria Buitenhuis
Full day workshop, 9.45am – 4.30pm. €85 (includes coffee break with scones and lunch)
Living willow is a wonderfully versatile material that can be used to create many garden structures including archways, fences and arbours, as well as tunnels and domes for children. Ideal for gardens, schools and community spaces.
At this hands-on workshop, Maria will show you how to select and cut willow wands, and how to plan and construct a range of structures including an archway and a dome. You will cover all the basic techniques needed to make and maintain your own living willow structures at home or in the community.
Maria is the Garden Coordinator at Brigit’s Garden and an experienced nature connection facilitator.
Autumn Foraging with Olwyn Williams
Full day 9.45am to 4.30pm €85 (Includes coffee break with scones and lunch) OR morning only, 9.45am – 12.45pm, €38 (includes coffee break with scones)
Come and spend a day getting to know wild food plants and how to use them with expert forager and teacher Olwyn Williams.
The morning will be spent outdoors meeting the plants in Brigit’s Garden and getting to know them through the senses, learning how to safely identify them, understand their seasons and habitats, learn any poisonous or non-edible lookalikes, and chat about the ways they are useful to us.
In the afternoon, depending on what fruits or roots are available on the day, we will use freshly picked plants to make a fresh herbal tea, an infused vinegar or alcohol for food or medicinal use, and probably a pickle or lacto-fermented product. These are versatile processes that can be used with many wild foods.
Practical and hands-on, we will also cover foraging safety and respectful harvesting, and chat about why foraging is important in a modern context. If you are a gardener, you might find that some of your most vilified weeds are actually highly nutritious foods!
Please dress appropriately for spending the morning outdoors. If you are doing the full day, please bring a couple of clean glass jars with lids for your products.
Natural Cordage (String) & Autumn Good-Luck Charms with Carol Barrett
Morning workshop 9.45am – 12.45pm, €38 (includes coffee break with scones)
Spend a morning beside the fire learning the ancient, sustainable craft of making natural cordage (string) from locally and sustainably gathered plant fibres including sedges, nettles and New Zealand flax.
We’ll explore how these humble plants can be transformed into strong, practical cord using simple techniques that have been passed down through generations. Once you’ve mastered the basics and made your own length of usable cord, we’ll put your new skill to work creating a beautiful rowan berry autumn good-luck charm to take home.
A relaxed, hands-on workshop, connecting you with the folklore of local plants and trees, traditional skills and the changing season.
All materials will be provided. The workshop will take place outside under the woodland shelter, so please dress accordingly. Carol is an expert crafter, forager and environmental educator.
Growing Native Trees from Seed with Saul Mosbacher
Morning workshop, 9.45am – 12.45pm, €38 (includes tea break)
In this workshop we will look at many of our native tree species and learn how to collect their seeds, and also what treatment they need to prepare them for planting. We will discuss planting and growing trees on a small, medium and large scale.
Much of the workshop will be hands-on, where we will harvest and prepare seeds ready for growing, with some for you to take home.
Saul has been collecting native tree seeds and growing trees for the last 30 years and runs Wild Oaks tree nursery in Co. Clare.
This weekend has kindly been supported by funding from SSE Airtricity Generation Green Community Fund.
Brigits Garden