THE DINNSEANCHAS PROJECT
The Dinnseanchas Project is an evolving eco-arts project rooted in rural upland communities in the West of Ireland and inspired by the word ‘dinnseanchas’ meaning the stories a place is telling. Dinnseanchas was initiated by Hometree, the nature-restoration charity based in the Ennistymon who are working to establish and restore resilient habitats across temperate rainforest landscapes.
Supported by a Creative Ireland Climate Action Award in 2024, Dinnseanchas creates space for communities to explore more resilient futures by holding difficult conversations about climate change, biodiversity loss, and the social and economic pressures currently shaping rural life.
As part of an 2026 Arts Council funded tour, Dinnseanchas is presenting a five-day programme in venues across Uíbh Ráthach supported by Cumas Ceantar Uíbh Ráthaigh and Hometree Iveragh EIP.
The programme includes events in Ballinskelligs, Caherdaniel, Dromid and Waterville.
DINNSEANCHAS IN UÍBH RÁTHACH OPENING EVENT
Wednesday Sept 30 - Waterville - Tech Amergin - 6pm to 7pm
Admission free – all welcome
An Scioból is an installation of images, texts and artifacts gathered by the Dinnseanchas artists over the last two and a half years. Join the Dinnseanchas team, and our local collaborative partners Cumas Ceantar Uíbh Ráthach and Hometree Iveragh, for a glass of wine and a chat as we begin this five day residency in South West Kerry.
CRÉ EXHIBITION LAUNCH
Thursday Oct 1 - Ballinskelligs - G Teic - 1pm to 2pm
Admission free – all welcome
The unveiling of the Cré Exhibition, featuring photography by John Minihane and haikus composed by Paddy Bushe, thanks to the project coordination of local artist, Karen Hendy.
IN THIS TOGETHER
Thursday Oct 1 - Ballinskelligs - Meeting at the Gteic – 2.15pm to 5.30pm
Free but ticketed – booking here
Join artists Emily Fitzell, Zoë Uí Fhaoláin Green and Grace Wells for an afternoon of connection, creative practice and immersion in Nature, inspired and informed by the landscape of Ballinskelligs Bay. Through attention, hands-on engagement, walking and listening, we’ll deepen into the local dinnseanchas as we reflect on the role of the arts in sustainable community-building, and the ways Nature and creativity can strengthen our sense of resilience through challenging times. The afternoon will begin at Ballinskellig’s Gteic, and unfold along the sea shore, with time to pause, share conversation and reflect together at Café Cois Trá.
FROM PLACE TO PLATE: THE STORY OF MOL MEALA
Thursday Oct 1 - Ballinskelligs - Ballinskelligs Community Hall - 6pm
Admission €15 – booking here
Join us for a shared meal and conversation about Mol Meala — a vision for a place where food, nature, learning and community come together. While enjoying a delicious meal prepared by Hayley Coates, we’ll explore why having places to gather, grow, eat and connect matters and how Mol Meala hopes to create something rooted in the land and meaningful for the people around it.
THREADS OF CONNECTION
Friday Oct 2 - Caherdaniel - Community Hall - 2pm to 5pm
Free but ticketed – booking at here
Join craft artist Alma O’ Donoghue and socially-engaged artists Jennifer Ahern and William Bock for an afternoon exploring the value of wool as a material, shared resource and catalyst for connection. Together we will map these connections between people, knowledge and place in Uíbh Ráthach and across the island of Ireland. Together the group will explore approaches to wool and its potential within the local community, participate in sorting and carding a washed fleece and contribute to an interactive mapping exercise exploring the connections between wool, sheep farming, landscape, handcrafting and industry
THROUGH THE EYE OF AN CAILLEACH BY JENNIFER AHERN
Friday Oct 2 - Caherdaniel - The Blind Piper – 7pm to 8pm
Admission free – All Welcome
The Cailleach, our deepest lore of place and most mysterious deity, requires that we listen closer to the stories shaping our world and choices. Artist and Anthropologist Jennifer Ahern’s talk looks at why transformation to a more regenerative society is not just about planting more trees but also requires a shift in perspective, mindset and belief.
ROCK ART BY NIGHT
This ‘Through The Eye Of An Cailleach’ event will be followed by ROCK ART BY NIGHT an event organised by Skellig Coast Archaeology Festival. This is a ticketed event. Ticket holders will meet at the church gates in Cahetdamiel at 8.30pm. For info please email kerrydarkskyreserve@gmail.com
THE STAG & THE ACORN
Saturday Oct 3rd – Dromid
Fulacht Fiadh
The Fulacht Fiadh is a traditional cooking method for cooking venison that was practiced throughout Ireland during the Bronze Age. The meat is carefully wrapped and slow cooked for eight to ten hours in an earthen pit of boiling water maintained by red hot stones from the fire.
Setting the Fulacht Fiadh
Venue: Behind the Inny Tavern – 9am – 10.30am
Admission free – All Welcome
Come and join The Hunter and the Chef as they prepare the fire and the deer for the Dinnseanchas Fulacht Fiadh. The morning session will include a butchery demonstration of a deer, preparation of the venison for cooking, and the setting of the meat in the Fulacht Fiadh surrounded by heated stones.
Woodland walk
Tulligealane - 11am – 12:30pm
Admission free – All Welcome
Join some of the Iveragh Woodlands EIP team for a walk at Tulligealane wood for a look at some of the species present in the area and a discussion about the importance of old Sessile Oak woodland in Ireland’s uplands.
Deer Today – A Panel Discussion
Ionad na Dromoda – 2.30pm – 4.30pm
Admission free – All Welcome
As is the case in many counties around Ireland, the mountains and woodlands in Uíbh Ráthach have a surfeit of deer. The ‘Deer Today’ event, hosted by Hometree’s Ray O Foglú, will be a facilitated conversation about wild herbivore management and deer hunting in Ireland today. The panel will include Wild Herbivore Strategy advisor Adam F. Smith from UCD and Joe O'Dwyer and Sion Brain from The Hunter and Chef.
Fulacht Fiadh Dinner
Inny Tavern – 6pm – 7.30pm
Tickets booked in advance €16 including booking fee here
Tickets on the night €20
Join us for a venison dinner at the Dinnseanchas Uíbh Ráthach Fulacht Fiadh prepared by The Hunter and Chef. Dinners will be treated to Inny Valley slow braised venison and porter stew from the Fulacht Fiadh, seasonal root vegetables and champ mash, with Bread & butter pudding afters. Vegetarian option on request.
Proceeds from this event will be donated to the Nepal Flood Relief.
LOCAL HEROES: A celebration of local community in film and music including the premier of Tábhairne na hUíne: A film by Síomha Brock
Saturday Oct 3rd – Dromid – Ionad an Dromid – 8.30pm
Admission free
Join us for an evening of music, art and conversation exploring community, place and Dromid’s history of community ownership, culminating in the first public screening of Tábhairne na hUíne, a new short film by Síomha Brock telling the story of Ireland’s first community-owned pub and shop.
MC’d by Kelsey Ní Shúilleabháin, the evening will feature music from Róisín Ní Riain and a presentation by artist Jennifer Ahern of a new artwork responding to the Inny Valley, developed during her residency with the Dinnseanchas Project. Rob Fell from Hometree will introduce their Iveragh Woodlands project, while special guest Davie Philip will explore the theme of The Power of Community, sharing examples of community-led action from Ireland and beyond across food, land, energy, culture and local enterprise.
Davie’s talk will consider how communities can build resilience, strengthen local connections and keep more ownership and decision-making close to home, before the evening concludes with the screening of Tábhairne na hUíne. The film will be followed by a discussion about Dromid’s own history of community ownership and the ways this experience might inform what comes next.
DINNSEANCHAS SCOIL SCAIRTE
Sunday Oct 4th – Waterville - Tech Amergin – 12noon – 4.30pm
Admission free - drop in anytime and participate
The Dinnseanchas Scoil Scairte will take place in and around Tech Amergin, with the public invited to visit An Scioból, participate in a number of workshops, and assist artists with their ongoing process of creating work that responds to the themes of The Dinnseanchas Project. The day’s programme will include music from The Mularkey Family. Also An Carn Beo, a new work by Róisín de Buitléar which invites the public to gather in a shared act of environmental memorialisation and restoration, by helping to construct a temporary, collective woodland from gathered branches to serve as a living metaphor for reforestation and renewal.
Visitors can support artist William Bock in creating Net(work), an experimental social sculpture that explores collective ritual and shared work as ‘tools’ for restoration, both cultural and ecological and join Ballinskelligs artist Róisín Ní Chionnfhaolaidh to learn about a project that is experimenting into possible uses for old glass from the greenhouses at Mol Meala. Throughout the day, The Fox in The Box will be serving complimentary coffees and teas, and Hometree will have their team of nature restoration specialists on hand to chat with about land care and woodland creation.