An Tairseach farm and ecology centre was established in 1998 by the Dominican Sisters on their 70 acres of land near Wicklow town.
Members of the public are welcome to attend open days, which are held on the first Saturday of each month from March to October. Meet at the shop at 11am for a guided walk through the gardens and farm.
The shop, which is stocked with a variety of organic fruit, vegetables and meat and a range of organic whole foods, is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday throughout the year. The sisters also have a stall in Dalkey on Fridays and Bray and Wicklow on Saturdays.
As well as running an organic and biodynamic farm, the sisters open their doors for meditation evenings and sacred dance sessions as well as evening, one-day and weekend courses on topics as diverse as Celtic spirituality, planning an organic garden, ‘nature as healer’ and ‘spirituality through art’.
Also on offer twice a year is a ten-week residential programme, Exploring Spirituality in the context of an evolving universe, an endangered earth and the Christian tradition. This runs from September to November and March to May each year, with bursaries available to two students.
The sisters are happy to arrange educational and school visits on request. They also offer tree sponsorship at €25 per tree – an ideal environmental Christmas or birthday gift for a loved one! One which won’t end up in landfill
The mission of An Tairseach is “to grow in awareness that the Earth is our home and home to all living beings. By farming without chemicals we choose to make a contribution to protecting human health and to restoring the diversity, integrity and beauty of the eco-system which is our farm. We will use this farm and ecology centre as a resource for education in how to live sustainably, delighting in the beauty and diversity of the natural world.”
For more info see www.ecocentrewicklow.ie
“The Dominican sisters are to be commended for not selling 70 acres of prime land in the vicinity of Wicklow. Instead they have transformed it into a biodynamic enterprise with a wild-life sanctuary and an ecology centre. It would be a wonderful millennial initiative if other religious orders who still own land followed this creative example.”– Fr Sean McDonagh, Why Are We Deaf to the Cry of the Earth? (Veritas 2003)