Creative Ireland Shared Island Programme
Counties Leitrim and Fermanagh
March to October 2024
In the middle of June, I stood in a bog in Leitrim, silently and blissfully, with a group of 45 people. For two minutes, no one spoke or shuffled. We just listened to the chorus of an Irish midsummer. For those who know me, this will seem like par for the course. In my creative work, I often find myself in intentional listening situations with groups of sonic enthusiasts. However, the group I stood with was not made up of seasoned sound-fanciers but rather a different contingent, familiar with the practice of deep listening in nature: farmers.
We had been brought together through an innovative Farm Walks project, co-created by Leitrim Arts Office, Leitrim Sustainable Agriculture Group, Ulster Wildlife Farmers’ Group, and The Dock, and funded through the Creative Ireland Shared Island Programme. The project hosted six farm walks in Fermanagh and Leitrim. Each walk featured a talk by an invited artist whose work resonated with that farm, its creative potential, heritage, or other special characteristics.
The partners invited me to join Farm Walks as a Creative Producer/Curator. My role was multifaceted and spanned activities, from sourcing local produce for the meals we enjoyed together, and facilitating site visits between the guest artist and host farmers, to all of the minute logistics that accompany event production. Below is a brief overview of each walk along with some of my favourite memories.

March 2024 – Spa Cottage Organic Farm, Carrick-on-Shannon, County Leitrim
Host Farmers: Yvonne Browne & Michael McManus
Guest Artist: Anna Macleod
Both organic and nature-friendly, Spa Cottage Farm has a sulphur well that is historically renowned for its healing properties. We explored the Spa Well, its historic links to medicinal healing and its current role in farm enterprise diversification. Anna gave a presentation on her recent works that refer to water conservation, wells and heritage farming practices. She spoke of using materials from the land in her work and passed around wool that she had dyed with lichen and other natural sources.
The Farm Walks project launched with a welcome lunch at The Dock Arts Centre before we moved out to the farm. The first person to arrive was my neighbour Padraig Gilbride. 80 years of age, Padraig came dressed in his standard farmer attire of heavy-duty reflective yellow jacket, jeans, once blue and now adorned in every shade of daub, and a good solid pair of fresh-off-the-farm wellies. It was Padraig’s first time through the doors of The Dock. I was surprised to see him. He hadn’t filled in an online booking form, wasn’t a member of any of the partner groups, and was not on my booked-out guest list. As an event producer, I should have turned him away. But how could I? I welcomed Padraig and invited him to check out the exhibition while he waited, which he happily did. By the end of the project, Padraig was the only guest to attend all six farm walks.
April 2024 – Leitrim Village, Leitrim
Host Farmers: Frank Whitney and John Flynn
Guest Artist: Christine Mackey
These two farms border the River Shannon and are steeped in history and heritage with the twelfth-century Portsham Castle, an ancient orchard, the old main road from Carrick to Manorhamilton, and a unique ancient spring well on the banks of the river. Christine presented and discussed two soil prints she had made, based on soil samples collected from each farm, using an analogue scientific process called Chromatography. Christine spoke of her work on art, seeds and ecology and exhibited photos she had taken of heritage Irish apple varieties.
As both farms are on the shores of the Shannon, we began the day with a boat trip to view the fields from the water. As the boat paused beside by his farm, my favourite moment came as we listened to John reading a short piece, he had written specifically for the day, about his spring well that bubbles up on the riverbank.

May 2024 – Boa Island, Fermanagh
Host Farmer: Patrick McGurn
Guest Artist: Anna McGurn
Located on the northern shores of Lough Erne, this farm is managed for its species-rich wet grasslands, hayfields and rich variety of wildflowers. Breeding waders, including curlews, are frequent visitors to the farm. The farmer and the invited artist for this walk are brother and sister. Anna demonstrated how clay from the farm is used to produce ceramics and led us in a short workshop where we could try making ceramics ourselves.
Patrick walked us through his land while identifying grasses and plants we passed. Anna had invited the participants to pick a flower along the walk that we would use in the ceramic workshop. My favourite moment was seeing a line of people stretched across a field all carrying a single flower.
June 2024 – Ballinaglera, County Leitrim
Host Farmers: Carol and Gavin Durkin
Guest Artist: Deirdre O’Mahony
This is a biodiverse-rich cattle and sheep farm with wildflower meadows and an apiary. It is a hub for social farming and highlights the farm’s potential for community building and wellbeing.
The aforementioned listening moment took place on this farm. Deirdre read quotes to us along the walk. After speaking about rustling hedgerows and vanishing birds, Deirdre invited us to just listen. For me, standing silently with 45 people in a bog was quite a moving experience. This day also had one of my favourite culinary moments. Carol, the farmer, produces her own honey. One of the food producers I regularly used during the project, Leitrim Hill Creamery, make their own Goat’s Milk Ice Cream. Ahead of the walk, Carol had brought jars of her honey to the creamery and after lunch everyone was treated to ice cream, served in a handmade cone.
September 2024 – Marlbank, Marble Arch, County Fermanagh
Host Farmer: Aidan McGovern
Guest Artists: Edwina Guckian, Tara Boath Mooney and Gerry Bohan (All members of the Leitrim Hawthorn Collective)
Located in the Killykeeghan Nature Reserve, this liminal space hosts the meeting of heather upland heath, rush grasslands, peatlands and areas of calcareous limestone. Swally holes on the land lead to the Marble Arch Caves located below. Sheep are kept traditionally amongst clusters of hawthorn trees on this mountainside farm. Edwina spoke about her work that bridges land use, farming, traditional crafts and communities. Gerry Bohan, a farmer himself, read a short story from his book, The Clainings Tree. Tara Boath Mooney brewed hawthorn tea that we drank as she revealed the mythology, history and healing properties of the hawthorn. Later, she brought out her mobile apothecary and let us sample various hawthorn tinctures.
I visited this farm three times: once with the partners for a planning visit; again, with the artists for a site visit; and finally, for the Farm Walk itself. Each time, I left feeling like I’d been charged with positive vibes. The views are spectacular, and a magic feeling emanates from having the marble arch caves in the ground below and being surrounded by the ancient hawthorns.

October 2024 – Boho, County Fermanagh
Host Farmer: Trevor Irwin
Guest Artist: Maria McKinney
Guest Chef: Phillip McCrilly
This walk focused on hedgerows, their history, heritage, and management, and their importance for supporting biodiversity and providing shelter and wildlife corridors. It included a demonstration by Neil Foulkes on coppicing and hedge laying. Maria McKinney spoke about her work which centres on contemporary farming practices and agriculture, primarily focusing on cattle breeding. She dazzled the farmers with photos of sculptures made using artificial insemination straws. Philip McCrilly prepared lunch for us that highlighted local produce.
I spent most of the day helping Phillip in the kitchen. He had put together an adventurous menu and part of me wondered if our guests would shy away from dishes more suited to a Michelin star restaurant than a community hall in Boho. Just before lunch, Philip gave a presentation that touched on his own work with art and food and introduced the menu. He obviously charmed the crowd, as each guest tried nearly every dish, most coming back for seconds or thirds. People enjoying locally produced, hearty food together tends to always be a favourite moment for me.
After the last walk, a friend who had attended was wondering if I knew the name of someone whom he’d met on the day. Trying to narrow down who he might be referring to, I asked: “Were they a farmer or an artist?” “To be honest,” he said, “you couldn’t really tell the difference.” This kept revealing itself to me through the project – just how much artists and farmers have in common. This made the pairing of artists and farmers feel like a natural and easy process.
I came away from the project feeling how fortunate we are in Ireland that so much of the land is in the hands of people whose experience comes through generations of knowledge and who feel themselves to be guarding it for the future. This project gives me hope that by creatively working together, we can ultimately tackle issues of food sovereignty, biodiversity and appropriate land use.
Natalia Beylis is a sound artist and creative producer based in County Leitrim.
nataliabeylis.com