Siobhán de Paor (artist, wordsmith, mother) and Diarmuid Lyng (hurler, activist, mentor) joined us for Hedge School during our Summer Solstice series in 2021.
Siobhán de Paor is an artist, wordsmith and mother. She works as a creative tutor of poetry and theatre and expressive arts. She is a celebrant of the Celtic Wheel rituals. Organizer of a local spiritual community, the Light Collective and hosts full moon women's circles. Although originally from the Ring Gaeltacht in Waterford, it wasn't until she landed in the West Kerry Gaeltacht six years ago that she began to use Irish as a creative medium. She has performed spoken word as Gaeilge in festivals and venues in Cork, Kerry, Clare, Dublin and Galway. She was a newspaper journalist in Ireland and Australia until taking a trip to Nepal in 2014 for a series investigating women's issues. There she stayed learning of meditation, yoga, auryvedia and other alternative philosophies for three years. www.wildirishretreat.ie/
Diarmuid Lyng's became known for his love of language and country following the RTE broadcast of Gizzy: The Geansaí. In it, he talked of how aversion tranformed to grá after a three day immersion in the West Kerry Gaeltacht in his twenties. Diarmuid since moved to that Gaeltacht and now teaches aireachas 'mindfulness' to visiting students. He worked as a facilitator with the SAOR foundation helping young people discover their worth and potential. He is a former captain of the Wexford hurling team and works as a sports analyst for TG4, Newstalk and other media. He gives hurling Master Classes ó am go chéile, preferring the beach to the pitch. He is an outspoken critic of the co-opting of culture by technology and founder of the initiative facebook free february. He is also one of the founders of GAA activist group Gaelic Voices for Change, fundraising and lobbying for the homeless. www.wildirishretreat.ie/
About Hedge School
“Back in the 1700s Irish education was outlawed under Penal Laws and the process of learning took to the land. Hedge schools gathered wherever people could find shelter. Situated along hedgerows, in fields, by rivers and under the stars, the non-conformists of the day gathered to gain knowledge. At these edges, the culture was kept alive, the language was preserved and indigenous stories, traditions, customs and wisdom passed from generation to generation. We feel called to evolve the Hedge school tradition to help us find shelter and navigate our shared future in these extraordinary times.”