What if the 200th anniversary of the Great Famine were marked not by a plaque, but by a living, growing forest? Earlier this summer, Irish Construction News visited a field in Mayo where volunteers from Shareridge are helping the Gaelic Woodland Project to plant a new native forest.
On a bright spring morning in Cloonlavis, near Knock, Co Mayo, volunteers from the Gaelic Woodland Project and Shareridge planted native oaks, alders, willows, birches, spindles and hawthorns around areas of reclaimed land bordering peatland.
The Gaelic Woodland Project began in 2019, fuelled by grassroots fundraising and a nationwide network of volunteers. Six years on, the charity purchased 12 acres of land that includes mineral soils, alluvial ground and areas of peat. Now, a 20-year restoration plan is underway, comprising wet alluvial woodland in the lower ground, old-oak woodland on the rise, and a protective belt of mixed natives around the edges. Critically, the bog itself will be restored, not planted – drains will be blocked to allow the wetland to recover naturally alongside the woodland habitat.
Gaelic Woodland Project
Eoghan Connaughton, founder of the Gaelic Woodland Project, explains the background to the Great Famine Project: “Our aim is to create a functional forest ecosystem, not just rows of trees,” he explains. “Different habitats mean higher biodiversity.
“The Great Famine was a time of unimaginable hardship. By 2045—two centuries later—we want this field to be a thriving woodland.”
A good habitat starts with the right genetics. Ois.n O’Neill, a project director, gestures toward sacks of waiting saplings. “Every one of these trees was grown from seed collected in Ireland’s last fragments of ancient woodland,” he says. “Using true native stock protects future forests from imported diseases like ash die-back and fire blight.”
Turning those seeds into healthy trees takes nursery space and precise matching of species to soil. That’s where Rossana Bacchetta of the Western Forestry Co-op comes in.
“In wetter pockets, we’ve gone for willow, alder and birch—species happy with winter water-logging,” Bacchetta explains. “Higher up, on drier ground, we’re planting oak under-storied with hawthorn and spindle. If you get the pairing right, restoration lasts.”
Shareridge
Enter Shareridge, the civil-engineering firm whose infrastructure portfolio runs from water networks all the way to public-realm spaces. An energy review showed its Castlebar, Limerick and Annacotty offices emit about 20 tonnes of CO₂ each year. Offsetting locally felt more meaningful than buying distant credits.
Nikita Coulter, Environmental & Sustainability Manager, Shareridge, explains why the company got involved. “Each mature native tree can absorb around 20 kilos of CO₂ annually. Plant a thousand and, over time, you balance our annual office emissions.”
But Shareridge didn’t just sign a cheque for the work when approached; they enthusiastically embraced the Gaelic Woodland Project’s vision and got involved.
Shareridge volunteer day
Nikita Coulter arranged a volunteer day that saw 15 staff swap keyboards for spades. “We wanted people to feel the soil, see the site and understand how biodiversity net gain works,” she says.
That hands-on approach changed perspectives across the team.
“I’m going home with a whole new appreciation for what rewilding means,” admits John Maughan, better known for guiding Mayo to two All-Ireland finals than for planting trees, as he wipes mud from his boots and a few beads of sweat from his brow after setting what he reckons was tree number 1,000. “Eoghan and his crew brought serious energy to the day, and the craic wasn’t bad either!”
John Maughan’s colleague and Shareridge’s HR Director, Alicia McNamara, laughs from a nearby row, where she and another volunteer compare who planted faster.
“John might claim he set the last tree, but the women outplanted him,” she says. “Seriously though, getting out of the office, feeling the sun and seeing immediate progress – there’s nothing like it for team spirit.”
The importance of rewilding
Rewilding, insists Aaron Hegarty, another director of the Gaelic Woodland Project, must rise from the ground up. “It takes a national community effort—clubs, schools, companies—tackling invasive species, raising funds, planting trees,” he says. “Change won’t trickle down from above; it starts with people who believe they can make a difference together.”
That philosophy guides every step. Drains that once dried the bog will be blocked, so the land can slowly re-wet. Volunteers will return to install deer guards, clear competing rushes and monitor survival rates. Carbon-sequestration data will be shared publicly, and local schools will be invited to use the woodland as an outdoor classroom.
In about 15 years, anyone leaving the county road will walk straight into a line of young trees. Birch trunks, soft with moss, will stand beside small pools ringed by alder, and big oaks will cover hazel bushes where wrens flit about. Somewhere in that quiet green space, a small sign may note the 200-year mark since the Great Famine.
But the real monument won’t be the plaque; it will be the hum of life above and below the soil.
Legacy and landscape
Eoghan Connaughton says, “Forest speaks the language of renewal.” In a land where memories of famine still echo, putting fresh growth in the ground tells a hopeful, alternative story.
For Connaughton, it’s about legacy as much as landscape: “We can honour the journey of our ancestors by restoring and gifting posterity their ecological inheritance.”
For Shareridge, the project is also a blueprint. “We build infrastructure,” Nikita Coulter reflects. “But we can also help rebuild ecosystems. Linking carbon strategies to local, provenance-based restoration is something every company can do.”
Gaelic Woodland Project Planting Days for Corporates
The Gaelic Woodland Project will host more planting days over the next two years. Corporate groups, community clubs and curious individuals are welcome. As Aaron Hegarty puts it, “Planting hope in the ground is everyone’s job.” When 2045 arrives and Ireland pauses to remember the Famine, there will be something else to see at Cloonlavis, near Knock, Co Mayo: A young forest, rooted in memory, thriving on collective action, proving that today’s choices can shape tomorrow’s landscape.
To learn more or get involved with the Gaelic Woodland Project, visit www.gaelicwoodlandproject.com