Nominees

Rena Blake & Lisa Fingleton

Rena Blake & Lisa Fingleton are based just outside Ballybunion, North Kerry where they run a 8 hectare (20 ac) organic farm called The Barna Way. 

Nature conservation and attracting wildlife is central to how the farm is run. In 2020 the couple planted 4 hectares (9 ac) of their farm under native woodland – a total of 10,000 native Irish trees were planted with the support of Greenbelt, Supervalu and the Native Irish Woodland Scheme. On the farm there are badgers, foxes, cuckoo, barn owls, ravens, jackdaws, pheasants and so much more. 

Rena and Lisa are passionate about community engagement and a lot of their work is geared towards educating people about where their food comes from and empowering people to grow their own food. They run the Local Food Project and are host farmers with the Kerry Social Farming. They are strong advocates for small-scale local producers, food sovereignty, low-impact farming and education.

As well as being organic growers, Lisa is an artist and Rena is a photographer.

Lisa says “In all our work we are propelled by an accelerated sense of urgency around food insecurity, climate crisis, biodiversity loss and forced migration”.

For the next two years The Barna Way will be a hub for the new Brilliant Ballybunion project funded under the IGNITE, Creative Climate Action Fund, which is managed by Creative Ireland.  The project will engage the local community to creatively explore the future for Ballybunion in terms of protecting biodiversity and local food systems. The project works with Ballybunion Community Forum and diverse community collaborators to grow food, protect habitats and create a vision for the future in the context of climate change and biodiversity loss.

Lisa and Rena have travelled extensively and have lived in many countries. They value intercultural exchange and the sharing of knowledge through ‘thinking global and acting local’. They strive to ‘BE the change they wish to see in the world’ though their work in ‘The Barna Way’ and welcome others to join them in their journey

Ken Gill

Ken Gill is an organic beef farmer near Edenderry Co. Offaly. He keeps around 60-70 suckler cows and finishes animals at 2 years, which are all completely grass-fed.

Prior to 2015, he was farming conventionally but struggling to make it work financially. He tried organics and has been impressed with the results ‘’The grazing ground gets very little fertiliser, it’s amazing. Soil tests a few years after going organic showed P & K levels had improved rather than declined’.

He has been carefully managing soil fertility since, ensuring no ground is left bare and catching and using effluent that runs off the yard. In his rotation, he produces turnip, kale and rape for fodder, which also has the benefit of breaking up the soil for subsequent crops. He produces around 8 hectares (20 ac) of oats for Flahavan’s, and then introduces red clover for fertility.

He is a part of the Teagasc Future Beef group. In 2023, group members reported very poor grass growth. In contrast, he notes in ‘our system the weather didn’t make much difference, it was more resilient compared to the other Future Beef farmers – the financial figures are more than holding their own’.

He used to keep a ‘short, back and sides’ approach to hedgerow management but now lets them grow. He uses a knife bar hedge cutter for trimming behind electric fences, which he finds helps the quality of the hedge. He has observed how the hedge provides a shelter not just for cattle but for grass too ‘you can see it after a cold east wind for a couple of weeks, there is a big difference between the exposed field and the sheltered fields.’ This is just one example on his farm of ‘how helping nature helps your bottom line too’. As a result, under the ACRES scheme, he planted 500m of hedging.

Brendan Guinan

In 2019, Brendan Guinan embarked on a journey of transforming 10 hectares (26 ac) of neglected forestry into a regenerative farm. Backing on to Cul na Móna bog, this diverse piece of land contains Ash, Oak, Alder, Sycamore and Pine trees. Brendan has carefully thinned the woodland entirely by hand, creating 1/10th hectare paddocks for his grazing and foraging animals. He has worked hard to ensure his farm works in harmony with the native flora and fauna that are present on the land. Coming from a family farming background, Brendan values farming traditions from generations gone while also understanding the importance of progression in farming systems – “I want to maintain traditional ways of farming but with a modern twist”.

Brendan combines Planned Holistic Grazing and Agroforestry to ensure his animals get a rich and varied diet, while simultaneously enhancing soil biology and capturing carbon. Brendan produces free-range veal, free-range Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, free-range turkeys as well as free-range eggs. The animals are pasture fed and remain outdoors year-round, sheltered by the cover of the trees during the wintertime. There is a natural spring on the land where Brendan plans to build a pond to keep brown trout and create a water habitat. On the farm there are pine martins, foxes, pheasants, cuckoos, buzzards, frogs, dragonflies and more. Brendan sells his eggs, veal sausages and burgers, pork sausages and dry cured ham direct to his local community. He has built his customer base through social media and he loves welcoming visitors, neighbours and customers to his farm. He is passionate about sharing good quality, local produce with his local community.

Michael & Tom Keane

Tom & Michael Keane are brothers farming 135 hectares (334 ac) along a Special Area of Conservation at the Shannon Estuary in Co. Limerick. Michael focuses on dairy production whilst Tom focuses on beef and sheep. They are big proponents of rare breeds and exclusively rear natives such as Droimeann and Shorthorn cattle and Galway sheep. The dairy farm has been organic for over two decades and supplies the Little Milk Company. The beef and sheep farm, also organic, supplies weanlings to finishers. Livestock are all completely grass-fed. Their farms are located in a landscape similar to the Burren, with a vast array of habitats, including a very rare brackish lagoon situated on karst limestones. They are in ACRES and are actively engaged with conservation efforts through the NPWS Farm Plan Scheme. Amongst other things, they have installed otter holts and provided accommodation for the Lesser Horseshoe Bat. Rare plants such as the Bee and Butterfly Orchids, thrive in their species rich grasslands. They propagate native trees from seed, particularly Hazel and plant them into scrub. They both have a deep connection to nature and are incredibly knowledgeable about the ecological and cultural history of their area.

Tommy Reidy

Tommy is an organic beef and sheep farmer around Castlegregory, Co. Kerry. He keeps Dexter cattle; with 12-13 breeding cows, rearing the calves to finish, keeping around 40 cattle in total. He also keeps Scotch and Swaledale sheep, which mainly stay on their share of a commonage, but come down the mountain to help manage the weeds in the summertime. He acknowledges weed control is important in an organic system, but he doesn’t remove everything, he even leaves a couple of ragwort’s behind as ‘you’d always see at least one butterfly on them’. Tommy takes a dynamic approach to farming, always experimenting. He has used the Bokashi method on his straw bedding, which is an anaerobic process ensuring no nutrients escape or pathogens form. There have been no issues with scour since using this method. He has seen too how, unless the holly bush is in the shed, the cattle get ringworm.  Tommy’s land is a mosaic of habitats stretching from the mountain to wetland to machair. He is conscious of the farm’s ecological footprint ‘Areas like this aren’t made for intensive agriculture’. To protect the machair, the cows feed there for 8 weeks from mid-December and graze right down as a part of a conservation grazing program. The farm is also in an NPWS Natterjack scheme with two toad ponds on the land. Tommy also encouraged other local farmers to get involved to help the endangered species. In ACRES too, he sowed a herbal ley, that he has let go to flower and has a thriving bird population.

Pat Maher

Pat is a former conventional dairy farmer, who is now in organic conversion and transitioning to a suckler enterprise. He farms 24 hectares (59 ac) on the fertile edges of the Golden Vale in Cashel Co. Tipperary. He previously was a derogation farmer and farming intensively. However, he hasn’t been using sprays for the last ten years, as he has witnessed the harm they have done to insect life.  He has also been setting clover and reducing urea use as he doesn’t want to be farming as intensively anymore.

He has a keen interest in biodiversity, especially after doing a course at the Cabragh Wetlands in Thurles. He has always nurtured hedgerows on his farm, and this year hosted a hedge-laying event on his land, and he hopes to hold another later in the year. He is a fierce advocate for proper hedgerow management, as he sees how poorly managed hedges get diseased and die-off. He recognises that hedgerows should be valued as having an essential purpose – providing shelter for animals. Also, he notes that ‘a laid hedge will sequester 5 or 6 times more carbon than what a hedge normally would, the laying thickens it up at the bottom’. There is also an old quarry in the middle of his land that he has fenced off and allowed to return to woodland and delights in seeing the impressive cowslip specimens inside.

Clinton Brownrigg

Clinton is a conventional tillage farmer, farming 80 hectares (197ac) at the foot of the Wicklow Mountains. After farming in a prescriptive way, he stepped away from the farm for 6 years. Upon returning, he looked at the farm with new eyes and began to farm more in tune with nature. Ever since, his aim has been to cause as little disturbance to the soil as possible. His cover crops, beans and winter crops are all seeded by direct drilling. His spring crops are sown by min till. After witnessing soil erosion on his farm, he subsequently never leaves bare soil, either sowing a cover crop or putting in winter crops after harvest.

He has eliminated the use of insecticides, by focusing on plant health. He finds that aphid pressure can be kept under control when the soil is balanced for trace elements and nitrogen is not overapplied. He tests for deficiencies in the soil and treats with foliar sprays rather than using fungicides.  Depending on the weather, his careful management of nutrients has meant fungicide use is down 30-50%, as ‘the more nitrogen you use the more fungicide you need’.

Under the ACRES scheme, he has put in over 5 hectares of riparian zones along the Avonbeg River, sowing traditional grasses such as Coxfoot and Timothy. Around 4 hectares of his land is left for nature and a further 10-15% is made up of hedgerows. There is also 12 hectares of woodland; an even mix of conifers and native hardwoods. The lesser spotted Red Kite is a regular site around the farm. Clinton appreciates the abundance of wildlife around him in Wicklow and works hard to ensure his farm doesn’t impact on it.

Nick McCarthy & Cass Amundsen

Nick McCarthy and Cass Amundsen are farmers and butchers, producing regenerative meat near Quin, Co. Clare. Farming 13 hectares (32 ac) of free draining soils, they are passionate about quality local food. They produce beef and pork from a herd of around 12 Stabiliser and Stabiliser/Angus crosses and fatten around 19 predominantly Duroc pigs.

They are in organic conversion, and butcher the meat themselves, selling directly to their local community. In the summertime, they almost exclusively feed their pigs whey from a local goat farm, saving on feed costs and utilising an otherwise waste product.

They don’t just farm with nature in mind but Nick says ‘one of the reasons I got into farming was a love of nature, we could see an alternative way of doing things that can work with nature rather than against it’.

They don’t cut hedgerows and when trimming behind electric fences are very careful to avoid disturbing nests. Their careful management of their grasslands using Holistic planned grazing prioritises protecting both soil and insect life.

They have seen Barn Owls on the farm, and they have plans to install a pond, owl boxes and incorporating woodland into how they raise their pigs. They are ‘very hopeful about the future, people need to eat, and we’ve got a growing customer base, we’re finding it hard to keep up with demand’.

Alan & Alanna Daly

Alan & Alanna are a father-daughter duo who are the 4th and 5th generation on their farm situated alongside Lough Mask, Co. Mayo. They farm over 200 hectares (500 ac), carrying 340 sheep and 60 Angus and Galloway cattle.

Half of their farm is in native woodland that hasn’t been touched in 200 years. Their whole outlook revolves around working with nature ‘ we don’t interfere with nature here, we’re not enemies’. Their woodland hosts red squirrels, pine marten, stoats, and a whole range of lichens.

Six hectares of their land is sown with wildflowers, and they have a wildlife pond where ducks and herons are regular visitors. They’ve built a bat roost, which is the home of a family of Lesser Horse-Shoe bats. As a means of reseeding their fields, they lay cut hay out for wildflower seeds to embed themselves in.

In organic conversion, their only inputs are lime and potash, which they spread on one field per year. They are hoping to plant up 4 hectares of agroforestry this year, as a means to create wildlife corridors on their land between habitats. Their vision for the future is ‘if we manage the farm the same way it has been managed for the past 100 years everything will be fine’.

Seán Gilligan & Rob Kennedy

Seán Gilligan and Rob Kennedy are friends who run a 10-hectare(24 ac) mixed farm in Strandhill, Co. Sligo. They sell vegetables from their one-acre market garden, eggs from 300 pasture-raised hens and regenerative beef through their popular farm shop. They are consistently selling out, in this, just their fourth season of farming.

They manage 10-12 Belted Galloway cattle using a mob grazing system. However, they acknowledge that the ’animals below the soil are just as important as the ones above it’ to their business. Soil fertility and closing fertility loops is of vital importance for the pair with cover cropping playing a big role in this, but also in attracting pollinators into the garden which are needed to pollinate many of their best sellers in the garden.

Having a lot of organic matter in the soil is very useful for them, as they manage 1300mm rain annually. They are conscious of how healthy soil acts like a sponge, meaning they don’t pass on the water to their neighbours. They don’t engage in schemes or certification as they wanted to prove that a holistic system was economically viable on its own. They have proven this already with both of them, drawing good salaries and they took on an employee last year to keep up with demand. With their system of grassland management, they’ve noticed how ‘in mid-season the pasture is just buzzing with insects and full of spider webs’. They actively encourage habitat creation through planting native hedges and allowing certain areas to go a bit wild. They see the benefit for nature and their business.

Rory O’Reilly

Rory O’Reilly is an organic beef and sheep farmer farming 56 hectares (140 ac) on Slieve Aughty mountain range in East Galway. He rears mostly Angus cattle that he direct sells. He uses mob grazing and moves the cattle every day in the summer which he says has given him a real feel for the land and what it can do. The farm is a Special Protection Area for the Hen Harrier which he is an enthusiastic participant in its protection. ‘All animals are fed on this farm – not just the livestock but the field mice, the foxes, the hen harrier’. He is delighted to see the hen harrier as it signifies to him that there is food available up and down the food chain and when the foxes are full, they’re not interested in his lambs. An ACRES participant, he is committed to ensuring good water quality having already installing two ponds and silt traps. This year, he plans to plant 700 trees along the water courses to stabilise the riverbanks ensuring even greater water quality.

Evan Delaney

Evan Delaney is an organic tillage farmer farming 81 hectares (200 ac) in Fethard, Co. Tipperary. Evan produces barley, wheat, oats and beans and produces his own organic animal ration out of it. Evan prioritises the biology of the soil using lots of foliar sprays, seaweed and sugarcane molasses which promote the living soil and consequently he has noticed he has much healthier crops. Evan became certified organic in 2016 and went into it because of a love of nature and an attempt to coax it back. Since, he has noticed the Yellowhammer make a return to the farm. He grows a 2m grassland margin around his fields with some wildflowers or sunflowers sown too. He loves growing field beans as they attract loads of bees and other pollinators to the land. He has always been in environmental schemes and is in ACRES now. He says he was growing margins with phacelia and vetch anyway, but that it’s great to be acknowledged for this ecosystem service now.

Joe Roche

Joe Roche is a dairy farmer managing 69 hectares (170 ac) of land near Gorey, Co. Wexford. With a herd of 115 cows, he operates a conventional spring and autumn calving system, milking year-round. He is a derogation farmer and has recently participated in the Ballymoney Stream EIP.

As part of that project, he dug a pond on his land, which collects water off the road and that he is now delighted to see is full with frogspawn in the Springtime. He ‘likes to see nature growing and developing, when you were young you would see lizards and eels and you didn’t realise the importance of them at the time. It would be nice to see them coming back’. Participation in the EIP helped achieve that on Joe’s farm. Bat and bird boxes were installed, and alongside that, 50 bats were found in a roost in an old farmhouse.

Around 5 hectares (12 ac) of the farm are under woodland, some of which is wet woodland. Joe holds hedgerows in high esteem and is continuously striving to improve their management, he has ‘been watching hedges for a long time and proper management of the hedges going forward is going to be crucial’. Equally concerned about water quality, he has signed up for Strathroy’s sustainable water scheme which will be building on the work he has already done to protect the Ballymoney stream in the last few years.

Bryan & Gail Daniels

Bryan and Gail Daniels are both full-time conventional dairy farmers in Co. Kilkenny. They farm 157 hectares (388 ac) on varying soil types, at altitudes of 238-309m. They took on the farm at the time of quotas and found they couldn’t increase their income, so their focus became producing the cheapest litre of milk possible. Since, they’ve been continuously ahead of the curve; using protected urea for 8 years, using Lower Emission Slurry Spreading since 2009 and using Selective Dry Cow Therapy since 2012. They have reduced synthetic nitrogen use by over 50% from 220kg/ha in the last few years by incorporating clover. They’ve also put their foot down with their feed supplier, insisting on soya and palm-free feed from now on. They’ve weaned themselves off herbicides too, using just 1 litre for spot treatments. The Daniels have a long family tradition of farming in harmony with nature being passed on from generation to generation. They are in ACRES but ‘try to do what is right for nature, rather than chase a grant’. They are continuously working on creating more habitats, particularly to provide accommodation for bats at the end of the farm without any outbuildings. They often see buzzards, sparrowhawks, kestrels and kites. There are solitary bees in clay banks and dragonflies in the river. To further help aquatic species, they are undertaking covering the silage pit to prevent run off into the river. In the last few years, they are leaving dead standing timber for insect habitats if it’s not dangerous to the public to do so. In 2022, Bryan heard the first woodpecker. He has found its nesting site but hasn’t seen the bird yet.

William Mulhall

William Mulhall is an organic beef farmer in Allenwood, Co. Kildare. He farms 66 hectares (163 ac) of grassland and has and around 30 hectares (74 ac) of mixed forestry, with both a mix of both broadleaves and Spruce. He hasn’t looked back from converting to organics in 2015 – he is enjoying the greater amount of control he has over what happens on the farm. He has one of the first herds of Speckled Park cattle in Ireland and is the Treasurer of the Speckled Park society. They’re hardy and a low input animal and he’s hoping to expand more into direct selling as a more financially and environmentally sound business model.

Wary of disruptions to supply chains he operates a ‘home bred and home fed’ closed loop system where all animal feed is produced on site. He manages the grassland with a  form of mob grazing, uses multispecies swards for good quality silage and sows combi crops for supplementary feed to achieve this.

William participated in the Protecting Farmland Pollinator EIP where he more than doubled his farm pollinator score on the results-based scheme. Now a fierce champion of biodiversity on his land, he has installed owl and kestrel boxes and has developed a particular interest in insects ‘it’s pretty crazy to see what’s floating around at nighttime that you’d have no idea about’.

Always learning more about wildlife he hopes to have an increased percentage of Scot’s Pine in a new Native woodland plantation as they encourage the red squirrel which he says ‘makes my day when I see one’. Already on the farm are healthy, minimally managed hedgerows which feature holly, guelder rose, blackthorn and spindle amongst others. Wild orchids have been left alone and now have a thriving population in field corners. He says ‘we don’t get excited about scruffy bits now that we can see what they can do’.

Tom Barry

Tom Barry is a conventional tillage farmer farming 243 hectares (600 ac) in Killavullen, Co. Cork. Tom and his family farm with 3 core principles in mind; ‘that it’s a beautiful place to live, work and to pass on, that yield is high and that the carbon footprint is low if not negative’. Being clever with nutrients is a priority for him ‘everything is gradual, we don’t slash everything overnight’. He is a big advocate for spreading slurry at optimal times, on standing crops and not wasting it spreading as soon as the window opens when the nitrogen can’t be used properly. Due to the high organic matter in his soil and a fine gardener’s tilth, he has reduced bagged nitrogen use by up to half on some of his crops. ‘When fertiliser prices went crazy, that didn’t bother us at all, it’s about having robustness on the farm, you’ll not just survive, you’ll thrive’.

He utilises a strong rotation producing Winter Barley, Winter Wheat, Spring Oats, Winter Rye, Winter Beans, Spring Beans and Spring Barley. Integrated pest management is another key practice that drives his successful business. By allowing weeds to grow, then being ploughed back in, the weed burden subsequently is dropping all the time. He says ‘farming with nature doesn’t mean the farm can’t be commercial’. He has 40 acres under broadleaf forestry and 6 acres planted with bird cover under ACRES to protect the hen harrier. There is strong owl protection on site with lots of birds utilising the cover in the tillage fields.

Nigel Gillis

Nigel Gillis operates a stockless conventional tillage farm in Grangecon, Co Wicklow. Previously following a prescriptive approach, he has transitioned his 73 hectares (180 ac) to using principles of conservation agriculture in the last 8 years. After noticing more and more pests and diseases and their chemical cures eating away at his margin, he became disillusioned and wanted to try something else. After running into a member of BASE Ireland, he became thirsty for knowledge. After learning that ‘every target species killed with insecticide kills 1700 non-target and potentially beneficial others, as well as building insecticide resistance’, he immediately ceased its use. He has followed that by not using rodenticide in the last three years, herbicide use is down by 20% and has reduced nitrogen use by 60% and consequently getting away without using fungicide some years.

He produces resilient crops of barley, wheat, beans and oats by using biological dressings on home saved seed, specific soil sampling to monitor micronutrients and biological stimulants. This approach has meant he is ‘a hell of a lot happier with what he’s doing, and the birds are back!’ Apex predators such as buzzards and kestrels, have returned to the farm along with the Barn owl. Nigel leaves 20% of his farm as space for nature and doesn’t manage the internal hedgerows, some of which are the old style ‘double ditch’. Testament to this respect for habitat, Birdwatch Ireland have recorded 32 species in one hour on the land. There is a breeding wader area on the farm where the land has been left fallow to facilitate it. An ACRES farmer, Nigel also leaves wide margins alongside the tributaries of the River Greese that run through his land, as well as sizable margins in all the fields. Pleased with lower costs, the higher margins and renewed pride in his system, he aims to continue to lower synthetic inputs even further, building resilience for the future.

Jack Browne

Jack is a 3rd generation farmer in Co. Carlow. He is a young tillage farmer who has incorporated agroforestry and permaculture design into his near 40 hectare (100 ac) farm.  Around 3 hectare (7 ac) is under Native Woodland. He is certified organic, selling oats to Tirlán, aswell as producing hay and silage. Having taken on the farm in 2020, he participated in an EIP project with Trees On The Land to become a demonstration site for silvoarable systems, incorporating 3000 trees into his tillage system.  His focus is on growing food crops rather than feed crops, and has created a ‘low input, premium output’ system by planting fruit and nut trees on his farm. Previously being a monocrop farm, he has sown 12 hectares (30 ac) of multispecies swards to build fertility which he says has ‘lead to an explosion of biodiversity on the farm, the amount of bird life that came back was unbelievable”  Building on the trees he has already planted, he is experimenting with min till methods which is a part of ACRES and hoping to expand the amount of land under agroforestry into the future.

Shane Fitzgerald & Kate Curran

Shane Fitzgerald and Kate Curran are young dairy farmers managing 93 hectares (230 ac) in Portlaw, Co. Waterford. Farming with Shane’s father John, they run a spring-calving, grass-based system of 210 Holstein Friesian cows. They have reached the maximum herd they can carry and are turning their attention to building on the environmental gains they have been making in the last few years.

20% of their grassland is a multi-species sward with the remainder having a clover/grass mix. Nitrogen output has dropped from 250kg/ha to 150kg/ha. They’ve stopped spraying under hedgerows and along boundaries to allow space for nature and have also revised their hedgerow management aiming for that good A-shape. Shane is of the opinion that ‘If you need every inch of land under production you must be doing something wrong’.

They have joined ACRES but not just for the sake of it; Shane and Kate are focussed on improving the biodiversity on the farm after becoming more aware of the issues. They are adamant that any farm business must find the balance between the three pillars of sustainability; financial, environmental and social ‘if you’re not leaving room for nature or the farm isn’t economically viable, the farm won’t survive, if it’s not enjoyable the next generation won’t be interested’. They’ve incorporated 3m field margins, riparian buffer zones and installed owl boxes under ACRES and they are looking for more through the Native Woodland Scheme. Through the Farming for Nature Horse’s Mouth program they were advised by Ambassador Gearóid Maher and consequently had a wildlife pond dug in 2023.

The plan for the future, consists of more tree planting to create smaller paddocks and providing better wildlife corridors with the ultimate aim of giving the Barn Owl every possible chance of making it to their owl boxes.

Therése & Bill O’Keeffe

Therése and Bill O’Keeffe are full-time conventional dairy and beef farmers on 111 hectares (275 ac) in Ballynoe, Co. Cork. Milking 60 cows and rearing 250 beef cattle, they credit their successful business to their observation-based approach. Farming for over 40 years, they ‘have always been of the mindset of extensive than intensive’ and that ‘you don’t have to hammer your land with inputs’.

With varying types of soil from dry with shale to black soil to loam to manage, they’re still able to finish their beef animals at 18 months. They point to their animals ability to thrive on older grasses and using bigger breeds like the British Friesian bred to Angus bulls .

They haven’t ploughed a field in over 25 years, using top seeding instead to avoid spraying off fields. They treat their slurry with a biological additive to increase the nutrient value while also using chemical nitrogen sparingly.

They are in ACRES and were participants in the BRIDE project which saw them install a pond alongside a waterway running through their land, where they ‘recently found an eel there down there for the first time in 50 years’ and see huge amounts of frogspawn in the Springtime. They’ve allowed previously drained bog to naturally rewet and have planted trees with more to come. They’ve never cut their whitethorn trees and appreciate the value in minimal hedgerow maintenance ‘We know our animals thrive when they have the shelter of a hedgerow, they eat the brambles and all, and it seems to have a benefit to their health’.

Colum Ginnelly

Colum Ginnelly is an upland, conventional sheep farmer in Mulranny, Co. Mayo. He keeps 250-280 ewes on multiple commonages and even has some land on islands in Clew Bay. He keeps a lowland and hill sheep cross to produce a better-quality lamb, to make his business viable.

A keen community man, Colum was instrumental in recruiting over 150 farmers in the area to participate in the Wild Atlantic Nature pilot scheme. He says it ‘was the best thing that ever came here, as we know now what’s going on under our feet, the farmers around here look at their land completely differently now that it’s under a scoring system’.

His land stretches from the top of the Nephin Beg mountains down to the sea, giving him a deep appreciation for the habitats he manages ‘you see it all, from sea life to the heather on the hills.’ He was one of the pilot farmers that destocked in the 90s, and after their efforts, the Red Grouse returned to the area, again able to feed on the rehabilitated Bell and Ling Heather. He welcomes any scheme that helps farmers in the area farm for nature saying that farmers ‘are the custodians of the land, we look after it’. Demonstrating this, he has signed up for ACRES and an NPWS plan to fence off some overgrazed land on the mountain to record how it can recover.

John Commins

Nicky Murphy

Gerry Fitzsimons

Sean Gilligan and Rob Kennedy

Sean Gilligan and Rob Kenedy are two friends from Co. Sligo who have recently taken on a joint farming venture in Strandhill. Having started this project in 2020, they now have a productive mixed farm producing vegetables, eggs, beef and pork. There is a 1-acre market garden on the farm, and the lads are growing 21 different vegetable crops this year. They keep 400 layers in a moveable egg mobile, meaning the hens are moved to fresh pasture every day. Fresh, chemical-free eggs and veg are sold on-site in their farm shop and at the local farmer’s market. This year they have brought a small number of cattle and pigs on to the farm and the plan is to start a meat box scheme with their pasture raised stock. The majority of the land is in grassland, most of which is permanent pasture, and the cattle are mob grazed. There is about 1/3 of an acre of old woodland on the farm which is an important habitat for birds and other wildlife. This is a highly productive farm and the farming model being implemented by Sean and Rob is one that is not only environmentally friendly but also economically viable as well.  

Moira Hart

Moira Hart runs Wexford Lavender Farm near Gorey County Wexford. The farm developed from Moira’s interest in flowers and gardening. In 2013, Moira planted one field of lavender and opened the farm to the public in 2014. Another field of lavender was planted in 2018 and now there is a total of 4 acres of lavender on the farm. There is a variety of different species of lavender growing on the farm, providing different flowers, colours, scents and so on. The farm is certified organic and there are no external inputs required. Management of the lavender plants requires year-round weeding and cutting back the plants in September time. A small number of lavender oils and cosmetics are produced on site. Farm visitor numbers are increasing every year. There is an on-site café and visitors can purchase bunches of fresh or dried lavender from the farm. Moira employs seasonal staff during the busy time of year. The farm is a haven for pollinating insects in the summer months – “The lavender attracts tremendous numbers of bumblebees during the summer months.” A local beekeeper keeps a few hives on the farm. The red kite and buzzard and often seen overhead and the woodland next to the farm attracts many songbirds to the land.  

Lisa Gifford

Lisa Gifford grew up in the U.S., but her Irish roots brought her back to the land in 2016 and she bought a small farm in County Leitrim – “When I came to Ireland many years ago, the beauty of the place touched a sympathetic cord in my heart and I said to myself maybe someday I will come back. And here I am.” Lisa manages the smallholding with her daughter Gypsy Gifford and daughter-in-law Richelle South. There is a range of stock on the farm including goats, sheep, pigs and chickens. The main commercial aspect of the farm is milking goats and producing farmhouse goats cheese that is sold direct to customers at local farmers markets. Lisa is particularly interested in rare-breed goats such as the Irish Goat. Much of the grassland is diverse in plant, grass and herb species, and the remaining land will be reseeded with a multispecies mix suitable for goats. The pigs were introduced this year, and they are naturally tilling the grassland in need of improvement. External inputs are low and the farm is very extensively managed. There are mature hedgerows around the farm and they are planting trees on the land and in field corners to provide shelter and improve soil structure, as well as creating additional habitat for wildlife. The plan is to retrofit an old farm building and to convert it into a micro dairy, then to increase the herd of goats and the quantity of goats cheese. Lisa takes great pride in the diversity of this farming system, as well as the fresh, natural product created on the farm.  

Michael Keegan

Granamore Commonage Group

Granamore commonage groups consists of 10 farmers who farm commonage in the Wicklow Mountains National Park. The commonage is 1132 acres in total and the farmers involved are sheep farmers. The group was formed as part of their participation in the SUAS EIP Project, with the aim of coming together collectively to improve the commonage that they manage. The group hold regular meetings to organise the grazing and management actions of the commonage. As part of their participation in SUAS, these farmers are taking numerous actions to protect and enhance biodiversity on the land. Heather and gorse are being managed manually with bush cutters, mineral licks are used to encourage the sheep into areas of dense heather where they trample the thick heather thus allowing space for other vegetation to grow, bog roads on the hill have been restored and grazing management has been altered to protect upland habitats. The group have planted native trees around the uplands to stabilize stream banks, reduce erosion, filter water, improve biodiversity and create habitats. Involvement in the EIP has given these farmers a greater appreciation for the land they manage, and they have gained a deeper appreciation for biodiversity, water quality, carbon storage and the upland habitats and wildlife in the area.  

Richard & Brid Duff

Mark Gillanders

Mark Gillanders runs a mixed organic farm in County Monaghan. About 75 acres of cereals are grown on the farm and the remainder of the land is permanent pasture and clover/multispecies pasture. Mark runs a suckler herd of about 20 cattle and the stock are very extensively managed. Red clover silage produces winter feeding for the cattle who are indoors for just a few weeks over the winter months. Organic oats are grown and supplied to Flahavans. Organic wheat is grown on the farm and is locally milled into strong Irish flour and sold in the Irish consumer market. Mark has incorporated rotational combi crops into the farming system, mainly wheat and beans growing together, which are separated leaving the wheat for flour and the beans for animal protein, thus reducing the amount of imported protein. There is about 5 acres of uncultivated wetland on the farm which is left for biodiversity and wildlife. Thick hedgerows are managed for biodiversity and along with pockets of woodland they make up nature corridors running throughout the farm.  Since converting to organic in 2009, Mark has observed a significant increase biodiversity on the land – “The farm has improved tremendously in terms of biodiversity on the land, as well as climate and economic resilience.” Mark achieved a Master of Science in Organic Farming from Scotland’s Rural College in 2019. He is proud to run a farm that produces high quality food for human consumption as well as providing for local wildlife and biodiversity.   

Martin Crowe

Thomas Tierney

Tommy is an arable farmer from Co Tipperary.  Having decided to stop ploughing a number of years ago and move to a strip tillage system, he has in more recent years moved to a no-till system.  Along his route of transition he has adapted conservation agriculture principles into his system. Covercrops, minimum tillage, good crop rotations, soil balancing and pollination strips are all high on the agenda on Tommys farm. He also runs his farm on a low input system, reducing his risk and costs by brewing his own extracts, bio fertilisers, ferments, trace minerals and biological seed dressing. Topped off with his own homemade compost is the icing on the cake to an over all beneficial system for environment, biodiversity, ecology, water quality and of course nature.

James Forrest

Rob Coleman

Timothy Curran

Timothy Curran and his family run a mixed grazing enterprise on the banks of Derriana Lake. Derriana Lake drains west into the Commeragh River which is an important river for the Freshwater Pearl Mussel. The farmland is made up of a wide variety of habitats ranging from wet grasslands and improved grasslands, traditional hay meadows, wet and dry heaths, blanket bogs, mature native woodlands and old stone walls.  The farm currently consists of 100 breeding ewes and 10 suckler cows. The majority of the farmland slopes down towards the lake. The slope and wet nature of this land can sometimes make it tricky to manage livestock without comprising water quality.  I am nominating Timothy Curran to the Farming for Nature Awards because he has been very proactive and innovative in tackling some water quality issues that were noted on his farm when he joined the Pearl Mussel Project in 2019. He has installed numerous crossing points on drains and streams, fenced off other watercourses, installed peat plugs and leaky dams. All these actions have greatly improved water quality on the farm as well as having a positive impact on the quality of the terrestrial habitats. Year on year since the Pearl Mussel Project commenced Timothy has added new supporting actions improving water quality and biodiversity further on his farm. He has also hosted farmer training events. These events have influenced other neighbouring farmers into taking positive nature friendly actions on their farms. As Timothy has the skills and machinery to carry out the tasks listed above he has helped out his neighbours directly when they are installing their supporting actions also.

Christina Kelly-O’Brien

Kevin Wallace (New Leaf Urban CSA)

Mary and Liam McDonagh

Harriet Roach & David Andrews

Eleanor and Richard Murphy

Ballyglisheen Commonage Community Group

The members of the Ballyglisheen Commonage Community Group (CCG) have been exemplary in their efforts to improve the ecological condition of their land. Since 2019, the commonage rights holders have come together to form a group dedicated to improving their upland heath commonage in the Blackstairs Mountains. This group not only works together to manage grazing and agricultural operations but has also carried out extensive restoration works such as stone wall repair and bracken control, all by hand. Their group has set an example of the benefits of cooperation for commonage holders throughout the country. In the three years they have been involved in the Blackstairs Farming Futures project, they have raised their score from a 6/10 to an 8/10, whilst improving the available grazing for their livestock.  Ballyglisheen is primarily dry heath, with patches of wet heath on the southern extent. The heath is in good condition, with all stages of heather growth present throughout the site and is lightly grazed by sheep. The eastern edge forms the ridge of the southern extent of the Blackstairs Mountains and is mostly exposed rock and scree. Previous fires have led to the expansion of dense bracken through the site and had exacerbated the erosion of soils near the exposed rock. In 2019, the commonage holders agreed to a moratorium on fire management and have since established a firewatch for their area. This site has been nominated as a location to carry out small-scale controlled burn training for local farmers to reduce the threat of uncontrolled burns in this area.  Their interest in conservation goes beyond biodiversity. The CCG have been keen to share their knowledge on the history and archaeology on Ballyglisheen. The site contains a variety of monuments and historical buildings, including the remains of an RIC barracks. The Ballyglisheen CCG have recognised the importance of both natural and cultural heritage and their role in conserving it for future generations.

Declan Quinlan

Sean Condon

Brigid O Connor

James Gilmartin

Mark Harold Barry

Dinny Galvin

Padraig and Una Fahy

Shane Taaffe

He has planted a grove of about 1,000 native trees, mainly oak, birch and alder (picture attached). There a also fine mature specimens of native oaks and also some lime trees on the farm. He has planted some new hedges with mainly whitethorn and holly. He has used native trees on the farm to create shelter belts and to enhance the wildlife value of the farm. He speaks favourable about the semi-natural grasslands on the farm and there value for pollinators, insects and birds. He is pleased to notice birds of prey especially around the area where the ringfort is.

Maurice Deasy

Reuben Cope

David Kerr

Michael Seymour

Michael Seymour is a 4th generation farmer from Borrisokane Co Tipperary. He runs a mixed organic farm, keeping a small suckler herd of Angus cattle and about 95 Texel ewes. Some of the organic meat produced on the farm is sold direct to a loyal customer base. The 50ha farm is comprised of some better grassland, some poorer grassland and callow. The farm was never intensively managed, with no chemicals used on the land and the grassland was never reseeded, and so it remains today a diverse permanent pasture. The river Ballyfinboy runs through a large portion of the land and often floods some of the grassland in the winter months. This callow habitat is teaming with biodiversity and contains a variety of wildflowers and insect life. The farm is extensively managed, and Michael takes great pride in managing a farm that is productive and biodiverse – “I’m farming in harmony with nature, meaning I don’t push the land. I know how much grass and silage my land can produce naturally, and I produce my stock according to that”. The animals overwinter indoors and silage is cut off the better land to provide winter feeding. The mature hedgerows contain a large variety of species such as crab-apple, hazel, hawthorn, willow, ash, blackthorn, elder, honeysuckle, dogrose, spindle and guelder rose. There are riparian zones along the river, protecting the watercourse and creating habitat for wildlife. Michael is a believer of working with the land and learning from the land “I remember once letting cows out into a lovely green field and the first thing they did was go over to the ditch and start eating the nettles. It told me that there is something important there in the hedges that we may not know about, but the animals do.” 

Anthony Leneghan

Anthony Leneghan recently took over his family farm near Castlebar County Mayo. The farm is fragmented and a total of 13 hectares, some of which is situated directly on the seafront. Anthony runs a small flock of about 30 horned sheep, producing ewe lambs for breeding. The soil is dry and sandy, meaning the sheep overwinter outdoors as they do not damage the land. The farm is very extensively managed and external inputs are minimal. Much of the grassland is diverse pasture with an abundance of plants such as yellow rattle, legumes and composites. Anthony joined the Reap scheme in 2021 and achieved the highest score on the field assessment due to the abundance of plant and grass species in his meadows. Anthony has planted 1200 blackthorn and hawthorn trees to form a new hedgerow on the land. There is a healthy population of hares and rabbits on the farm. Anthony is proud to farm in a manner that protects the wildlife and biodiversity on the land. He runs a family butcher shop with his wife in Castlebar.  

Andrew Chilton

Tom Tierney

Conor and Sorcha McPhillips

Ragna Gruendler

Colm Flynn

Mary Walsh

The Pickersgill Family

Blátnaid Gallagher

Blátnaid Gallagher and her husband Niall inherited the family farm in 2016. The land, which is located in Killoran Co. Galway, has been farmed extensively and traditionally for generations. Some of the land is rented and the remaining 17ha contains a mix of forestry, permanent pasture and areas of rewilded land. Blátnaid runs a small flock of pedigree Galway ewes, producing organic lamb and Galway wool. The farm is very extensively managed, with no chemicals used and external inputs are extremely low. The hardy sheep live outdoors year-round, and hay/silage is cut from the land every year to supplement winter feeding. Geese, ponies and donkeys are also kept on the farm, and they all play a role in managing the grassland and fertilising the soil.

11.8ha of the farm has now been dedicated to a NPWS scheme that aims to enhance biodiversity on Irish farms. This will involve managing the grassland to ensure it maintains its rich diversity of native plants, grasses and herbs. Areas of the farm have been rewilded to provide habitat for wildlife. 6ha of unused bogland has been dedicated to a butterfly sanctuary, providing a habitat for the rare Marsh Fritillary butterfly as well as numerous other insects and birds. Mature hedgerows, woodland and nature corridors throughout the land provide habitat for the healthy populations of birds on the farm, as well as badgers, hares, pine marten and foxes.

Shane McAuliffe

Pat O Brien

Pat O’Brien is a tillage farmer based in Cahir County Tipperary. Pat used to manage a farm shop on-site where he supplied potatoes and apples, but he has stood back from farm shop and now runs a 110-acre tillage operation growing wheat, barley, beans and oilseed rape. Having noticed a decline in the health of his soil in more recent years, Pat decided to change his ways and now farms under the principles of conservation tillage, and although it is early days, Pat feels positive and hopeful about the change. Soil biology and health is at the forefront of the farming system now. Pat is building soil organic matter by spreading mushroom compost and slurry on the land. Cover crops have been incorporated into the cropping rotation which is helping to naturally regenerate the soil and add fertility, as well as providing food for pollinating insects and birds. Oilseed rape has been included into the crop rotation and the soil is no longer left bare at any point. Pat has been producing the crops via min-till system for 3 years now. All of these changes have helped Pat to reduce the amount of artificial fertiliser required on the farm. There are pockets of woodland around the land and Pat has noticed the return of significant bird and insect life to the farm in recent years. Pat is proud to manage a productive farm all the while protecting soil health and increasing biodiversity on the land – “My interest in nature comes from my mother, who instilled in me a great love and respect for nature and animals.” 

William O’Connor

William O’Connor runs a suckler farm in Kanturk County Cork, alongside his wife Margaret and son Denis. A lifelong farmer, William believes in operating a sustainable farming system where protecting the environment goes hand in hand with his traditional farming methods. William manages a suckler herd of 40 continental cows and he farms 80 acres of mixed land.

William is an active participant in the Duhallow Farming for Blue Dot Catchments EIP. This project aims to protect, restore and enhance the high-status objective rivers and streams in the Allow river catchment. As part of his commitment to this project, William has implemented a number of sustainability and biodiversity measures on his farm. These include the implementation of silt traps and swales, as well as the installation of a pond on the land in order to prevent silt run-off into the river Allow. He has also planted a number of hedgerows in targeted nutrient flow pathways to act as a nutrient break.

The river which runs through William’s farm attracts lots of wildlife to the farm including otters, herons and ducks. William is a believer in peer-to-peer learning and has often hosted farm walks on his land, enabling fellow farmers to learn more about the actions he is taking to support nature on his farm.

Alan Wood

Jack Lynch

Martin Fitzgerald

Jessfield farm is a 500-acre farm located on the Tipperary-Kilkenny border. The farm has been in the family for 250 years. Martin Fitzgerald took over the farm from his father and has since modified the farming system in ways that hugely reduce the impact of farming activities on the land. Martin now runs a herd of 85 continental store bullocks. The cattle are overwintered outdoors and fed silage that has been cut off the land. External and chemical inputs are kept to a minimum and the farm is very extensively managed.

The permanent pasture contains a wide variety of plant species including wild orchids. There is an array of mature trees and hedgerows, all of which provide habitat for insects and birds. There are red squirrel, pine martin, buzzards, cuckoos and woodpeckers on the land. The old stone walls on the land also provide a habitat for many insects.

Martin’s farm is a wonderful example of an extensive, low-input farm that allows tremendous space for nature and wildlife on the land the flourish.

Charles Carr and Shannon Copeland

Charles and Shannon Copeland are regenerative farmers who have spent the past 5 years building their farm the ‘Bullaun Ark’. The land which had been conventionally farmed for years, is gradually recovering and regenerating under the watchful eye of Shannon and Charles.

True to its name, the farm hosts a range of animals from turkeys, ducks, chickens and geese to sheep, goats, pigs and a donkey. The animals are incorporated into the vegetable growing rotation where they play an important role in fertilizing the land and consuming pests like snails and slugs. The commercial section of the farm is a 1.25-acre market garden, where Shannon and Charles are currently growing over 150 different plants ranging from vegetables to exotic berries to edible flowers. They focus on perennial crops as much as possible. All the produce is sold directly to Galway-based restaurants. No chemicals are used on the land and external inputs on the farm consist only of mushroom compost and occasional liquid seaweed fertilizer.

Since they arrived on the land, Shannon and Charles have witnessed a significant return of birds and insects to the farm. They have dug ponds to create water habitats. They have planted wildflowers and trees to create shelter and habitat for wildlife. The couple have put huge effort into regenerating the soil biology. They also keep native Irish bees on the land. This farm is a wonderful example of championing diversification over specialisation.

Mariann Klay

Mariann runs a stud farm in Swordlestown Little County Kildare. She bought the land with her husband in 1998 and they have built a successful stud farm where they breed thoroughbred horses. There are between 10-12 breeding mares on the land along with their followers, meaning the farm is run at a low stocking density of approximately 20-30 horses at any given time. The farming system is extensive, and no chemicals are used on the land. Hay or silage is cut off the multispecies grassland and used for winter feeding. A neighbours cattle graze the pasture during the summer months and sheep graze the pasture during the winter. Mariann ensures the stocking density is never too high and the land is aerated every year to minimise soil compaction.

A nature lover her entire life, Mariann places biodiversity and wildlife at the centre of every decision relating to the land. Thick and mature hedgerows line every field and corridor on the farm. A pond was dug on the land a few years ago and it has become a central point on the farm, attracting an abundance of insects and birds. There is steam on the land which provides further water habitat and there is an area of wetland on the farm as well. Thanks to all of their hard work in creating and protecting farmland habitats on the land, there are significant numbers of different bird species, as well as badgers, foxes, deer and pine marten. Mariann is continuously looking for ways to enhance biodiversity and habitats on her farm, future plans include another pond, more tree planting and a riparian zone.

Liam Kildea

Cathal MacMahon

Aonghus Ó Coistealbha

Aonghus Ó Coistealbha is a market gardener from Connemara Co. Galway. An Garraí Glas is a 1-acre farm where Aonghus grows a variety of chemical-free vegetables including lettuce/salad leaves, onions, tomatoes, radishes, herbs and more. A tremendous amount of vegetables are grown from a small space, not to mention a challenging landscape with plenty of stone and a strong Atlantic prevailing wind. All of the fresh produce grown is sold to local shops and restaurants, as well as in the on-farm shop.  Aonghus is particularly interested in regenerative farming; composting, soil health and building fertility is of utmost importance to this farming system. Compost is made on the farm using food waste from local café’s and restaurants, seaweed and other organic material from the land.  Aonghus is passionate about his local Gaeltacht community and has worked hard to educate the local community in terms of where their food comes from and how it is grown. His mission is to produce high quality, fresh and nutritious veg for the local community. He is open and willing to share his farming advice and story with anyone who would like to learn, and he takes a number of interns and volunteers on the farm every year.

Bruce Thompson

Bruce Thompson runs dairy farm in Ballyfin County Laois.  He is an 8^th generation farmer. The farm which was traditionally a mixed farm is now a commercial dairy farm with a herd of 320 cows. In line with the Teagasc dairy roadmap, Bruce operates a grass based, high efficiency production system. With a young family, Bruce maintains that his farm has to be economically viable, and he is proud to currently employ 2 fulltime staff members on his farm.

In 2020, Bruce started a Nuffield Scholarship and from this he developed a passion for dung beetles. On his own farm he has a particular interest in reducing animal remedies through prevention, with a focus on animal wormers. He has made dramatic reductions in his wormer usage by making use of his farm microscope for diagnosis and pioneering new grazing strategies. Bruce is a strong advocate in the farming community for the urgent need to protect our dung beetle populations. He has started an EIP which is focusing on a targeted and selective approach to animal wormers in order to protect and increase dung beetle populations on the land. Bruce also successfully breeds dung beetles on his farm. Other nature actions taken on his farm include managing hedgerows for biodiversity, planting additional hedgerows and incorporating multi-species swards into his grassland.

Bruce believes more focus must be paid to the integration of ecology and agriculture. He is confident that food production and environmental protection can and must happen simultaneously.

James Ham

James Ham farms along his wife Martina in Mooyvore Co. Westmeath. Their 52ha farm is 50% under woodland/forestry and the other 50% is mature multispecies pasture including approximately 4ha of spring barley which is used for feed and straw. James has worked hard at greatly reducing the number of chemical inputs on the farm over the years. No insecticides have ever been used on the farm, and over the last 10 years the level of fungicide used on the crop has been reduced to the point that none was applied last year. Chemical fertiliser inputs have also been cut back and replaced with farmyard manure. They run a small suckler herd of about 20 Aubrac cows.  There is over 4000 metres of hedgerow on the farm, equivalent to approx. 1.5ha of linear woodland, which is left mostly left untrimmed. Regular hedge maintenance is by traditional hedge laying. These thick and mature hedges provide not only a crucial habitat for birds and insects, but also shelter for the livestock. The continuous cover forestry system contains a wide range of hardwood and softwood trees. Tree species include hawthorn, blackthorn, spindle, crab apple, oak, elm, holly, sycamore, alder, beech, birch, Norway Spruce, Douglas Fir, Larch, Scots Pine and more. James maximised the amount of open spaces within the forestry plantations to help create wildflower reservoirs for insects and the wet areas and drains are ideal for dragonflies. “The afforested half of the farm, despite being relatively young, has greatly improved the amount of wildlife on the farm. Pine martin are now present, and the Jays are obviously doing their job, as we see little oak and hazel seedlings all over the site.”

Cathal and Bronagh O’ Rourke

Pat Mulrooney

Pat Mulrooney is a lifelong farmer who runs an organic dairy farm near Clonmel County Tipperary. Originally a conventional tillage farmer, Pat transitioned to organic in 1987 and now runs a dairy system, milking approximately 90 cows. Pat is a founding member of the organic dairy co-op The Little Milk Company, and approximately 90% of his milk is supplied to this dairy to produce organic Irish cheese. Pat also grows 20 acres of organic oats for Flahavans.

A pioneer in organic dairy farming in Ireland, Pat has used no artificial sprays or nitrogen on his land in over 30 years. Veterinary intervention is used only when absolutely necessary. The farm is managed in the most extensive manner possible while remaining within the parameters of a commercial organic dairy farm.

A nature lover his entire life, Pat has taken numerous actions on his farm to protect and enhance nature on the land. Hedgerows are managed for wildlife and biodiversity. Multispecies mature pastures provide habitat for insects as well as varied diet for his livestock. Areas of meadow and mature woodland also provide a crucial habitat for insects and birds on the land.

David Dennison

David Dennison runs a vineyard and orchard in County Waterford. David is the founder of Viking Irish Drinks, producing craft wine and cider on his farm in Waterford. The 1-hectare vineyard, which was planted in 2010, provides red and white grapes for wine. There is 2.2 hectares of cider apple trees to produce craft cider. They also produce liqueurs and are now experimenting with alcohol-free beverages. They grow blackcurrants and blackberries on the land, as well as keeping some hives of honeybees.

The entire system is managed with huge sensitivity towards nature and wildlife on the land. David is in the process of Organic conversion; however no chemical sprays have been used on the farm in 20 years. There are different habitats on the farm including woodland areas, meadow, thick hedgerows and 1.5 acres of wetland. Research by the National Biodiversity Data Center stated there are very healthy populations of insects on the land, including bees, hoverflies, beetles. An array of different birds live on the farm including jay thrushes, swallows, buzzards, snipe, woodcock, goldfinches and hen pheasants. There is a reed-bed system to clean wastewater from the wine and cider production. In 2008 David planted an area of nut trees including hazelnut, cobnut and walnuts trees in an effort to provide habitat for red squirrel on the land.

Rob O Foghlú

Rob Ó Foghlú and his partner Ciara bought 12.5 acres of land in 2017 and established Gortnacrusha Biodiversity Farm. The farm is a mix of permanent pasture and a steep glen which runs down to a stream. The pair have been gradually building the farm and doing so in a way that works with the natural landscape of the site as well as its existing habitats. They started by planting 5000 trees on the land, a variety of native and non-native trees which act as a shelter belt as well as creating additional habitat and improving soil structure. They also planted 400 meters of native hedgerows on the farm. They then planted 3 orchards on the land, with apple, damson and cobnut trees, each about 1/3 of an acre. The next project was the planting of 1 acre of inoculated truffle trees (pine and hazel) in the hope that these will produce an annual truffe harvest in the future. Finally, in 2020, Rob and Ciara started their market garden business. There are 2 commercial polytunnels and an outdoor growing area on the farm. They produce a wide variety of vegetables including salad leaves, tomatoes, peppers, chillies, aubergine, courgette and much more. The fresh produce is sold direct to restaurants, cafes and shops in the local area. They also have an apiary on the land and sell honey. The old meadow, which is a unique habitat in this part of the country, is managed purely for biodiversity and contains an impressive variety of plant and grass species including the wild orchid. It is a haven for insects and birds in the summer months.  

Philip and Ann Moynagh

Paul McCormick & Jacinta French

McDonagh Family

Fergal Byrne

Fergal and his family farm 65 hectares in County Kildare. The farm is organic and includes tillage, suckler cows, sheep and turkeys for the Christmas market. All animals are finished on a home-grown ration, nothing is bought in only seeds. Fergal grows a combicrop including red clover to finish his cattle.

Anthony Mooney

Anthony Mooney from county Kildare runs a 200-acre beef farm with the help of his wife Mary Rose and son Conor. He runs a herd of between 100-120 cross-bred continental cattle. Anthony is passionate about biodiversity and nature conservation and this is reflected in his low-input farming system. Ponds, meadows, woodland and hedgerows are all important habitats on the farm.

Gerard Deegan

Gerard Deegan is a lifelong farmer from Co. Westmeath. Originally a dairy farmer, Gerard transitioned to a mixed beef and forestry enterprise back in 2012. There is now 100 acres of forestry on the land – 50% hardwood and 50% softwood. An advocate for diverse forestry systems, Gerard has planted approximately 60 different species of trees on the farm. He also runs a small suckler herd producing organic beef. Gerard is involved in Social Farming and a member of Leitrim Organic Farmers Coop since 1990.

Justina & Liam Gavin

The Gavin family moved their young family back from the UK in 2012, to take over Liam’s 200 year old family farm. They came with two ambitions, to feed their family with wholesome food grown by themselves and to try and generate a sustainable and independent income for the farm by supplying organic produce directly to customers.

Stuart Rogers

Stuart has focused on improving the health of his soil over the past 5 years. In order to improve the soil he has cut the use of toxic
pesticides, and cut the use of chemical fertilisers. The focus on the farm is diversity. It is a soil up approach.
Starting with the smallest creatures in the soil, fungi, bacteria, protozoa, up to larger creatures like beetles and
worms.

Henry O Donnell

Henry is working on a EIP project to encourage grazing of the uplands of Inishowen. He has organic Galloways and sheep on 92 hectares.

Graham Harris

Approximately 90acres of the land is in grassland with 70acres in tillage. Graham has 140 ewes and 160 lambs and is moving increasingly towards the Belclare breed. “Obviously for farmers converting to organic one of the main concerns is stocking rates, which was not an issue for me as I am stocked relatively low but this is certainly something that must be an important consideration.”

Paul Moore

Paul Moore runs a tillage and beef farm near Middleton county Cork. The mixed 140-acre farm is comprised of 95 acres of tillage and the remaining 45 acres is mature grassland and is used to produce 35 beef cattle. A wildlife and bird enthusiast all his life, Paul is passionate about nature conservation and managing habitats on his farm. Over the years he has planted trees on the land, managed hedgerows for birds, incorporated wildflower margins around field boundaries and increased the nature corridors where possible on the farm.

Norman and Michael Dunne

Norman Dunne along with his father Michael Dunne, run a 400-acre tillage farm outside Maynooth, Co. Kildare. After moving away from an intensive tillage system a few years ago, these farmers have been focusing on regenerating soil biology and reducing external inputs where possible on the farm. They now operate min-till system, using multi-species cover crops, crop rotations and biodynamic seed preparations. Since the reintroduction of regenerative farming methods on the land, there has been a significant increase in biodiversity and a return of numerous bird species to the farm.

Patrick Higgins

Pat is a sheep farmer with 6ha of bog/heath and wet grassland in the heart of the Stack’s to Mullaghareirk Mountains, West Limerick Hills and Mount Eagle SPA breeding Hen Harrier Special Protection Area (SPA). Pat joined the Hen Harrier Program in 2020. He has been focused on the delivery of high quality habitats to support of wildlife.

Dan O Donoghue

Dan is a sucker farmer with 21 ha of wet grassland , species rich grassland, improved grassland and blanket bog in the heart of the Stack’s to Mullaghareirk Mountains, West Limerick Hills and Mount Eagle SPA breeding Hen Harrier Special Protection Area (SPA). Dan joined the Hen Harrier Program in 2017 and was a one of 12 development farms used to develop the project.

John Robinson

In one way Lugnamackan could be perceived as a hobby farm, as John’s principal income comes from his work as a vet and he spends a lot of his CAP payments on landscaping projects like dry stone walls and ponds that most farmers would regard as follies. But John makes a clear distinction between his stewardship of the land and the farming enterprise that is part of it – “the livestock that lives here must pay their way”.

Batt Sheehan

Batt farms with his wife Ger and family on his organic dairy farm in Ballynoe in the Bride valley. He is a passionate farmer with an environmental conscience that reflects the way he farms. Despite being in the heart of an intensive farming landscape and being the only organic dairy farm in the Bride valley, Batt has stuck to the task of producing quality milk with a high standard of environmental care while also showcasing the highest standards in animal welfare.

Eoghan Daltun

Eoghan Daltun has a small farm of 73 acres (including 40 acres of mountain commonage) overlooking the Atlantic near Eyeries on the Beara Peninsula, West Cork. For the last 12 years he has been rewilding 21.5 acres of his own ground, giving this area entirely over to nature, mostly in the form of highly species-rich native Atlantic temperate rainforest.

Marc Sagarzazu & Brid og Norrby

Marc and Bríd óg have been farming 36 acres in North West Kildare for the past 17 years. Marc is originally from Barcelona and Brid og has lived most of her life on the farm.The farm has been in the same family for three generations. It has a good selection of mature trees in small woodland areas dotted around the farm. It also borders the bog of Allen and a Special Area of Conservation.

PJ Dooley

PJ. Dooley takes a very holistic approach to Farming for Nature, he strives to engage with community through sharing projects with them on his 38 acre certified organic farm. His aim is to enhance biodiversity, revitalise the rural area and enrich community wellbeing.

Louis McAuley

Louis McAuley farms 1700 acres in partnership with other family members, the farm consists of 1400 acres of cropping and 300 acres of grass all based on owned and rented land and contract farming arrangements. The grassland is used for his own dairy calf to bull beef enterprise with silage been sold to local farmers. The cropping side of the farm is quite diverse and mainly consists of wheat, barley, oats, oilseed rape and beans, so along with the grassland, this makes Louis’s farm perfect for Conservation Agriculture (CA).

Colm Flynn

A lifetime farmer, Colm openly admits to have come from a time of when you lived off the land, snared rabbits, eat pheasant and pigeon. From his poacher days, he has a deep awareness of all things wild, and now turned keeper, brings a wealth of knowledge to any debate on the future of farming in Ireland.

Muller Family

Mona and Harry Muller and their daughter Alanna farm Glendree Organic Farm in County Clare. The farm is in the Slieve Aughty Mountains breeding Hen Harrier Special Protection Area (SPA). They practice biodynamic farming on their 32 ha of wet grassland in the southern part of the SPA. The whole family play a role in making the farm work for them, the local community and the local landscape.

Alan Feighery

Alan specialises in growing vegetables for their own market stalls, along with a cereals enterprise and also a sheep enterprise. Alan is one of the first commercial vegetable growers in Ireland, to grow field scale vegetables using Conservation Agriculture principles which presents huge challenges.

Madeline McKeever & Holly Cairns

They are the owners of Brown Envelope Seeds, one of only two farms in Ireland producing vegetable seeds. They produce around 100 varieties of seeds, growing a mixture of old and modern varieties, selecting those that perform well and further adapt to the Irish climate. They strive to produce good, organically certified, open pollinated seeds to Irish growers. It is important to them because open pollinated seeds are populations that carry a diverse mix of genes. They have a deep rooted commitment to preserving seed sovereignty and plant biodiversity.

Patrick O Sullivan

Patrick is a participant in the Reeks EIP project. He has been willing to try new initiatives on the commonage to improve the condition of the upland peatland habitat, including the re-introduction of suitable breeds of cattle, and has even purchased a few Droimeann cattle to trial controlled grazing during the summer months.

Nia O Malley

Randal Plunkett

At present approx. 750 acres are dedicated to the reintroduction and preservation of native species to the area in county Meath. It was a difficult decision to make and required a significant financial sacrifice, however due to the remainder of his estate in tillage and forestry he has found a way to make rewilding financially sustainable. Randal believes that the biodiversity from the rewilding land has had a positive impact on the crop yields in his land dedicated to tillage as well as neighbouring tillage farms. This, in addition to ensuring other good biodiversity practices such as replanting and maintenance of native hedgerows has also been beneficial to tillage output in the area.

Dermot Doran

Dermot Doran is a second generation to farm the family farm. He is a full-time farmer. He has moved from a intensive dairy farm system to a forestry, rewilding, reduced stock rate system.

Noel Kiernan

Noel Kiernan farms 250 acres of mixed land and habitat – there is forestry, marsh, bogland, pasture and hay meadows. A naturalist his entire life, Noel is passionate about conservation in all forms – from native flora and fauna, to native Irish livestock breeds. Noel is a forester as well as a farmer and he is passionate about combining forestry and farming, as he believes these practices can be mutually beneficial when managed sustainably. There is 100 acres of native broadleaf forestry on the land.

Rena Blake & Lisa Fingleton

Rena Blake & Lisa Fingleton are based in north Kerry where they run a 8 hectare (20 ac) organic farm. Part of the farm is a market garden and orchard, where they grow tomatoes, potatoes, salad leaves, apples and other fruit, which is sold direct to their local customers at the Ballybunion community market. They keep bees as well a small flock of hens whose eggs are also sold locally.

Nature conservation and attracting wildlife is central to how the farm is run. Last year the couple planted 4 hectares (9 ac) of their farm under native woodland – a total of 10,000 native Irish trees were planted. Last December they planted 500 Holly trees as part of a community initiative. On the farm there are badgers, foxes, pine marten, cuckoo, jackdaws, pheasants and more – “we have between 150-200 migrating redwings here over the last 2 weeks.” This year they hope to develop their natural hay meadow, providing a habitat for ground nesting birds and other creatures. Additionally, they plan to build a pond on the land to further increase biodiversity – “we’re growing habitats on our farm.”

Rena and Lisa are passionate about community engagement and a lot of their work is geared towards educating people about where their food comes from and empowering people to grow their own food. They run the Local Food Project and are active members of the Kerry Social Farming group. They are strong advocates for small-scale local producers, food sovereignty, low-impact farming and education.

Avril & Willie Allshire

Avril is one of the most passionate people when it comes to highlighting how a farmer can work with nature. She with her husband Willie set up their farm and product free range pork products under the Rosscarbery Recipes brand directly from their farm.

Michael Kelly

Michael is a fantastically well managed farm in Moate Co Westmeath. His planning and direction is very much farming with nature. While he is in the early stages, we would think that Michael is a very suitable candidate for a Farming for Nature Ambassadorship.

Pat McKenna

Pat is a Dexter farmer in north County Monaghan. He has close to 100 dexter animals. In Glas. No chemical fertiliser input on the pasture. Only manure/slurry. Planted 10 acres broadleaf forestry 8 years ago. Hedges on farm haven’t been touched in 15 years & are fantastic wildlife habitat. He markets beef directly to restaurant trade as it is a premium product.

Colm Gavin

Colm Gavin farms in the Bundorragha catchment in Mayo. He farms 85 mountain ewes on a mosaic of peatland and wet grasslands. Colm is a participant farmer in the Pearl Mussel Project EIP. The Pearl Mussel Project rewards farmers for the ecological quality of their land, which in turn contributes to the pristine water quality needed by the Freshwater Pearl Mussel. Colm is farming in the top Freshwater Pearl Catchment in Europe.

Gearoid Maher

Gearoid is a relatively young dairy farmer and is passionate about biodiversity and sustainability. Gearoid farms in partnership with his wife Sarah and their young daughter, Sally Kate. They farm a total of 80 hectares of which 8.5 hectares is in forestry. The land is quite a heavy soil type and needs a lot of care and attention to prevent damage. The grazing season ranges from 220 to 240 days. The land will always be idle for a minimum of four months of the year, Gearoid does not push the farm, he lets the farm work for him.

Nicholas Redmond

This is a most unusual and valuable area of species rich grassland and is like an oasis in the midst of a highly developed area with mobile home parks, holiday homes and associated land uses. The fact that this treasure has survived to this day is testament to a traditional style of farming practice in “Farming for Nature” of the Redmond Family over the years. The grassland is a highly valuable seed source for many once widespread species in the Irish Countryside and Mr Redmond has arrangements to harvest seeds produced so as they may be re-distributed to other areas for restoration projects etc.

Dominic Gryson

Dominic & Fionnuala Gryson farm just outside Ashbourne in Co. Meath . This is an area of intensive cereals and vegetable growing. The farm was part converted to Organic Farming in 2020, with the remainder converting in 2021. They have participated in GLAS since 2017 .Dominic has a great interest in Nature and has put a nature corridor around the perimeter of the farm with a view to opening it up to the public . He chose the Grey Partridge and Arable Strips under GLAS as well as Wild Bird Cover He has also planted an orchard and some forestry on the farm Dominic is also growing old heritage varieties of cereals in order to mill his own flower and produce long straw for thatching.

Eamonn McDonagh

Eamonn is a wonderful example of a farmer who understands the importance and benefits of small-scale, hands-on farming in harmony with the natural world. Together with his wife, Geraldine, and their two children, he stewards a 30-acre certified organic mixed farm. His farm integrates animal, vegetable and woodland enterprises to produce food, fuel and fibre while at the same time it creates an oasis for pollinators, wildlife, and native species.

Simon & Ru Kenny

Simon and Ru Kenny are a young couple returning to  Simon’s family conventional arable operation and putting the breaks on. They witnessed the soil’s degradation through intensive tillage and synthetic fertiliser applications, and made a brave move by deciding the first step was to stop. After the last grain harvest, Simon sowed diverse pasture mixes and let the land heal. Healthy pastures need well-managed ruminants, so they used a flock of sheep to manage the pastures in the first year but now they plan to introduce some light framed cattle as the main future enterprise.

Michael McManus

Michael McManus hails from county Leitrim where he farms a suckler herd over 180 acres. Michael operates a rotational grazing system on this organic farm. They are moved in accordance with the stage of growth they are at or whether they have calves on them at the time – “I firmly believe that having different plant types for cattle to graze on provides them with a wide range of minerals and nutrients. I think cattle have natural curiosity that needs to be satisfied – they enjoy grazing different areas that have different types of vegetation.”  The natural meadows have not been reseeded and provide great biodiversity on the farm. “The grazing of this type of land with cattle helps promote the natural vegetation here. The only management of the land is the cattle grazing, then letting the grasses and flowers grow (buttercup, rushes, meadowsweet and so on) then cutting the meadow for hay/silage later in the summer.” The cattle overwinter outdoors where they are supplemented with some meal and hay/silage.  Michael is interested in agroforestry, permaculture and preserving traditional methods of farming. He values nature, heritage and biodiversity on his farm.

With that is mind they are producing beauty products at Spa Cottage from the sulphur springs that exist on the farm. They are also at an advanced stages of developing an old sweat house on the farm and to develop heated spas using solar and hydropower on the farm as an ecotourism business. The sulphur spas were first recorded in the 16th century on the farm but it is believed that they  are probably  of Celtic origin, used by them and were known always to have positive dermatology results.

Stephen & Eva Hegarty

Stephen and Eva Hegarty farm 11 hectares of lowland grassland amid the drumlin landscape of
Kilfenora, Co. Clare. Stephen grew up in the area and his partner Eva is from Finland. They manage
the farm together, and both espouse a way of farming and living that places the environment and the
welfare of their animals at the forefront: no chemical fertilisers, no pesticides, no tail docking, no
animals in crates and no addition of medication to the feed.

Rod & Julie Calder-Potts

Highbank orchard is a fantastic organic farm produces top quality produce from their apples. From award winning apple syrup to cider and gin. They’re huge supporters of local food producers as well as advocates for organic farming, nature and soil health. Their farm have a large variety of wonderful wildlife habitats. They give farm tours to individuals as well as large groups. They host talks, lectures, events and workshops in beautifully restored out buildings. They encompass a broad spectrum in how they farm and encourage learning about all kinds of foods from the farming of raw ingredients to the end produce. They are an excellent example of what a farming for nature ambassador should be about.

James Breslin

Mr James Breslin is an innovative Inishowen hill farmer who has taken the decision to adopt changes to the management of his farm through the introduction of sustainable environmentally friendly farming methods with the aim to make his farm a profitable enterprise by contributing positively to the household and not a drain on it.

Cat & Kieran Roseblade

Cat and Kieran are relatively new entrants to farming. They are bravely and wisely tackling the serious shortage of ethically raised, organic pigs and poultry. Producing pork, bacon, chickens, turkeys and eggs and direct selling they are a complete package. This is the type of small farm that can sustain a family, feed a local community and do so in symbiosis with the natural environment. This is what farming should be all about!

McNally Family

McNally Family Farm converted from conventional crop and cattle farming to Organic & direct to customer farming in 1996. The farm is 77 acres, 3 acres covered with poly tunnels and about 27 acres of outdoor growing. They grow over 50 lines of produce seasonally throughout the year and sell direct to customers in farmers markets in Co. Dublin and from their farm shop in North Co. Dublin. They also keep flocks of organic hens and ducks for egg production and rear organic turkeys for the Christmas market. They make yoghurt and jams throughout the year. They have been supplying many of the country’s top restaurants with produce for years.

Thomas Stack

Tom has blazed a trail with enthusiasm, cutting out harmful inputs and restoring soil health with the help of Korean Natural farming. Korean Natural farming is a regenerative approach to dealing with our farms, harnessing indigenous micro-organisms to improve the health of soil and subsequently all the plants and animals and people who depend on soil.

Fergal Anderson & Emanuela Russo

Fergal and his partner Manu run a 5 acre market garden with mature woodland also. They have a very tiny setup and we’re one of the first csa’s in the country. They use lots of cover crops in the market garden and have quite a mix of fruit trees. They are a shining example of what small scale horticulture can look like. They have a lot of woodland around there garden which makes a wildlife haven and again an example of how production can fit in along with nature.

Joe & Aoife Reilly

Joe and Aoife are a fantastic example of what’s possible on a few acres.  The farm is highly productive not only in terms of food production, but in terms of soil health and wildlife as well. On the farm there are 3 ponds, mixed hedgerows and a variety of trees, all of which provide habitats for wildlife.

Cathal Mooney

Cathal Mooney of Heather Hill Farm is a regenerative farmer located in Donegal. He takes a holistic approach to farming, focusing on ecological, social and economic goals. Heather Hill Farm produce pasture raised turkey, pasture raised chicken, pasture raised eggs, wildflower honey and grass-fed lamb. Cathal runs a Holistic Planned Grazing System for the stock and has implemented a silvopasture system on the land where fruit trees, nut trees and berry bushes have been planted throughout the grassland.

Brendan Guinan

Brendan Guinan hails from Geashill on the Laois-Offaly border. A few years ago he embarked on a journey of transforming 26 acres of neglected forestry land just outside Portlaoise town into a truly regenerative farm that will stand up to financial, environmental and conventional scrutiny.  He began converting this forestry land into a diverse agro-forestry based system with many enterprises including poultry, pigs, cattle, lumbar and a market garden. He directly sells this produce to customers and through other local businesses.

Dermot Page

Rathcon farm is a diverse farming enterprise comprising of about 280 acres of agriculture and agroforestry, 58 acres of mixed forestry and a fishing lake. Dermot and Jen currently farm Christmas trees, Sheep, Short Rotation Coppice for biomass and tillage.

Michael Costello

Michael’s farm is a beef farm in Limerick. He used to be an intensive farm similar to a typical dairy farm but about 5 years ago they started transitioning to become a biological farm. So the main changes have seen a huge reduction in chemical use on farm.

John Pringle

John runs a sheep and suckler to beef family farm in the Wicklow hills. John is farming in a way that respects nature in a very picturesque part of the country. Since joining BASE he has a willingness to share his farming practices while also an active learner.

Trevor Harris

Trevor Harris runs two farms in Co.Kildare, there is the home farm, 140-acres, which is cattle and sheep both organic and biodynamic certified.  He grazes the two together, selling his beef directly and the lamb is through ICM.  It is a mixed enterprise with 12 acres in forestry and 40acres in cereal – he sells his oats to Flavahans and his barley to make a biodynamic whiskey. The second farm is horticultural land, 14 acres outdoors and 1500sqm indoors, where he is growing vegetables for 6 restaurants in Dublin, a box scheme and retail.

Andrew Bergin

Andrew Bergin farms 320 acres of tillage in Co.Kildare. He has been practising no-till cereals for a good number of years, while managing the soil in a way to promote high levels of biological benefits. Andrew sows cover crops, and is constantly trailing on farm what species work best for his soil and rotation. This is an integral part that has allowed Andrew prosper in this system that benefit both the environment and the farmer.  His approach is to improve the soil structure and the microflora and insect populations in the soil.

Thomas Keane

Thomas Keane farms in the Dawros catchment in Connemara, Co.Galway. He farms 160 mountain ewes on a mosaic of high nature value peatlands and wet grasslands and is a participant of the Pearl Mussel Project EIP. The Pearl Mussel Project rewards farmers for the ecological quality of their land, which in turn contributes to the pristine water quality needed by the Freshwater Pearl Mussel. Tom’s system of farming has maintained and enhanced large areas of active Atlantic blanket bog, achieving a score of 10/10 on the Pearl mussel peatland score card for much of it. This is an excellent example of perfectly intact peatland which is farmed in a manner to benefit both the stock and the land.

Pádraig Moran

Pádraig Moran is a farmer based in west Offaly, south of Banagher, near the River Little Brosna. The story of the esker on Pádraig’s farm is a remarkable one. It had been quarried, and the gravel provided a good source of income. Once designated as an SAC however, for the important and rare semi-natural grassland that the esker supported, quarrying had to stop. And not only that – the grassland on the esker ridge now needed help in order to be restored.

Mary Regan

Regan Organic is a small family farm based business near Enniscorthy. It is owned and managed by Mary Regan having inherited it from her late father Tom. From a very young age she had a passion for animals and nature and was constantly at her fathers heels. The farm has been fully organic since 2006. The ethos of the business is to try and farm and rear the animals in harmony with nature.

Bruce Thompson

Bruce believes that Ireland is a fantastic place to produce good clean food and our reputation of “Clean, Green” is something to take pride in. However he also believes we can’t take that for granted. Bruce takes a lot of pride in “his” environment, getting excited to show off “his” Buzzards, red squirrels or pine Martins.

Deirdre O’Sullivan and Norman Kenny

Deirdre and Norman have worked tirelessly over the years to build up a successful dynamic business and in the process have gathered a loyal customer base. In 2001 they bought an adjoining twenty-six acres increasing their growing area substantially, the farm is certified by the Irish Organic Association.

Patrick Frankel

Patrick Frankel runs an organic farm just beside Doneraile Park in Doneraile, Co. Cork. He has beef and sheep, forestry and he grows a wide range of organic vegetables for sale direct to consumers and also to supply up to 30 restaurants in Cork city and the surrounding areas. Patrick is a great producer with a deep interest in biodiversity, soil heath and sustainable food production.

James Foley

James has become acutely aware of the threat to his farm’s viability from being a primary producer at the foot of a commodity-milk supply chain. He is now exploring the options to regain his business independence by adding value to his milk and by reducing the farm’s dependence on milk sales.

The Shackleton Family

The Shackleton family farm 320-acres in Co.Cavan and have been providing organic grass-fed beef and lamb to their customer since 1996. Grazing traditional breeds Aberdeen Angus and Belted Galloway occurs on 60ha of the farm. The farm also has 5ha of semi-natural habitats including bogs, wetland (Mullagh Lake), woodland, hedgerows, hay meadows and stonewalls, all of which are managed by owners who have qualifications in ecology, landscape design and environmental management.

Sinead Moran and Michael McGrath

Sinéad Moran & Michael McGrath own a micro-dairy with a herd of traditional breed cows on 40-acres of high nature value farmland in Co. Mayo where they sell raw organic milk direct to customer. They are passionate about conserving the species-rich grass, mature trees and both retaining and enhancing biodiversity that is found on their farm.

Aongus (Chóil Mhaidhc) Ó Coisdealbha

Aonghus is a charismatic young man with a big vision. His life’s work is to grow food organically and on a small scale, without chemicals or machinery, for the people of Conamara and surrounding areas. Having spent years abroad working on organic farms in different countries, and studying their methods and permaculture, Aonghus decided it was time to return to his birthplace and create a smallholding there, using all he’d learned alongside the older, traditional methods he grew up with.

Joanne Butler

OURganic Gardens is an outdoor environmental education centre offering advice and small scale educational packages centered on food, sustainability,and the environment. Joanne and Milo Butler have worked to enhanced, encourage, protect and improve the biodiversity and heritage that the local landscape has to offer. The educational packages provide people with the knowledge they need to make responsible decisions about how they live their lives within the natural environment, while surrounded by the beauty and wonder of the landscape that OURganic Gardens has to offer. The farm using permaculture, no dig and other holistic methods. The not only make space for nature on their small patch, they recognise they are part of it and their work and techings reflect that.

Patsy Carrucan

Patsy Carrucan deserves national recognition for his work in farming as he is a true ambassador for farming for nature. Patsy is very proud of the Burren, his homeland, and nature, and he has worked tirelessly to help develop a results-based agri-environment programme with his great input into BurrenLIFE and Burren Programme. On his own farm Patsy has changed his management on the coastal grasses of his farm, to ensure more plants flower. Patsy has maintained a high quality species rich grassland Winterage because of his excellent management based on long experience of farming a Winterage.

Kylie Magner

Kylie is a full time farmer pursuing a life long dream of returning to farming to grow ethical and innovative produce.  She has created a business from a hobby of 10 hens to 800 hens producing eggs which are all gathered, graded, packed and sold by hand under the “Magners Farm” label.

Mimi and Owen Crawford

Mimi Crawford operates Crawford’s Farm with her husband Owen. Theirs is a small traditional Irish working farm, comprising of twenty-eight acres in Cloughjordan, Co. Tipperary. Here, the husband and wife duo farm cattle, poultry and pigs. The idea for their farm business stemmed from the combination of local demand and a desire to produce as much of their own food as possible.

Jim Cronin

Jim Cronin has a 16-acres organic market garden farm in Co.Clare where he has been adopting biological agriculture principles for the last 30 years without loosing many of the traditional methods of farming. Jim’s entire farming ethos is seamlessly entwined with nature conservation. Not only does he create a habitat for pollinators and wildlife but also for all the unseen worms and micro-organisms which are fundamental to growing crops and sustaining life above ground.

Cyril Ó Flaithearta

Cyril Ó Flaithearta runs the family farm based on Inis Mór island, keeping beef cows and selling weanling calves and/or stores. The highly fragmented farm, with up on 80% of its area within an SAC runs from one side island to the other and contains fine examples of species rich grassland and the associated biodiversity with them. Active management by Cyril and his family maintain these grasslands, maintaining and rebuilding stone walls to control the grazing livestock, controlling encroaching scrub on to the grasslands and continuance of the traditional winterage management system that have created and maintained these grasslands but also adopting any new methods such as improvements in animal breeding and nutrition to improve the agricultural output of the farm.

Donie Anderson

Donie Anderson’s family have farmed in the Glenasmole Valley in the Dublin uplands for generations, and along with his wife and daughter, he continues this tradition today. Donie is passionate about keeping traditional farming skills alive so that they can be passed to the next generation. He believes that these methods are more nature friendly than modern approaches and the abundance of wildlife found on his farm is testament to this.

James Breslin

James is part of the Inishowne Farmers Upland EIP.  He has a number of measures that he is doing to help biodiversity.

Pat Lalor

Pat is an advocate for organic farming. He operated an open farm for 20 years, welcoming school groups, agricultural students and interested members of the public, always willing to share his knowledge and experience of organic farming.

Kieran Doona

Kieran Doona, comes from a family that have been farming along one of the main access routes to Carrauntoohil for 5 generations. Kieran is a young part-time farmer who has a good understanding of the project objectives. He has demonstrated great willingness and is open to trialling new approaches on his farm. The land included in the project supports wet heath habitat that has been heavily grazed in the past resulting in extensive spread of bracken and increased levels of gorse which are above optimum for this habitat.  Kieran also works with a group of local farmers who carry out path maintenance works in the MacGillycuddy Reeks. This work is vital to the conservation of these upland habitats in terms managing the impacts from the large numbers of people (hillwalkers and other recreational users) that visit the Reeks.

John McHugh

John McHugh has a 230-acre organic dairy farm in Co.Laois. He moved away from being an intensive dairy farmer in 2015 when he realised that he needed to create a sustainable and resilient lifestyle that his children could carry on.  He is a farmer that has adapted from a commodity and profit driven production system of dairy farming to one that is focused on family succession, long term environmental goals, nature based farming and connecting his community to nature.

Stephen Morrison

Stephen Morrison and his young family live on the 300-acre family farm near Kill, Co Kildare. They are the 3rd generation of the family to farm there. Stephen is a full time farmer with an 80 cow suckler herd, taking all progeny to finish.  He is not organic but is transitioning away from inputs.  He also has a tillage and forestry enterprise in place. Whilst the farm is busy and productive, Stephen has ensured that he farms in a balanced way and that he has a low impact on the wildlife that live and breed on these lands.

You can find more information on the work that Stephen and Heidi do on their farm through their website https://soearthprojects.com/

Tom Coffey

Tom has a connection and passion for his place, its fabulous natural history and also its unspoilt mystic landscape.  It has really old native trees including the oldest hazel tree in Ireland.  The land is covered in history and archaeology.  His own family (Kilbrides through his mother) have been farming it for 400 years.

Thomas Fouhy

Tom is an organic, min-till, stockless, arable farmer – those are adjectives that generally do not sit together and can only be achieved successfully with a deep understanding of soil and plants.

Walter Phelan

Walter Phelan, native to Attanagh, Co. Laois, has worked tirelessly over many decades, at great personal cost, to ensure the traditional farming knowledge and local farm methods are preserved for future generations. It is with this deep-set determination that Walter has farmed his lands just over the County boundary in Ballyoskill, Co. Kilkenny, often in conflict with officialdom, to keep the natural character of his lands and hedgerows so that the intrinsic native biodiversity has a refuge from many of the intensive methods that surround his lands. In keeping with this objective Walter incorporates, up-cycles and reuses traditional farm wrought iron gates, dis-used electrical poles and local stone, where possible. The hedgerows are lovingly managed, by hand, with gaps infilled with native pollinator friendly species such as hawthorn, holly with ash and oak on drier banks.

Irish Seed Savers Association

ISSA conserve Ireland’s threatened genetic resources and maintain a public seed bank of over 600 varieties of seed. They preserve heirloom and heritage food crop varieties that are suitable for Ireland and local growing conditions, contributing to the nation’s food security. They provide a unique service to the nation in terms of supply of organic heritage seeds and apples trees. The 20 acre farm, gardens and visitor trail at Capparoe, Scarriff, Co. Clare is an inspiration, ably demonstrating best practice in organic farming and farming for nature. They supply seeds of vegetables, grains, herbs and edible flowers, as well as apple trees the progeny of which, thanks to ISSA, adorn many an orchard across Ireland today.

Thomas and Claire O Connor

Thomas and Claire manage a 25-acre mixed organic farm in Gleann na Gealt, Camp, Co. Kerry. They produce vegetables, salads, wheatgrass, meat, poultry and eggs which they sell locally in their shop in Tralee (Manna Organic Store). They have 15-acres of native Irish woodland and 4-acres of permaculture including fruit trees.  They are a great example of diverse food production and biodiversity production all on very marginal land, of proving what is possible.  “Climate change is caused by the disconnection with the land and we need to produce farming systems that are less energy intensive” 

See here an article Thomas wrote on the importance of worms on his farm and how to build a wormery.  Importance of worms for our farms

Oliver Nagle

Oliver and his family farm 121 acres of winterage, meadow and pasture at Slieve Carran, Co. Clare. He has been involved in the Burren Programme since it began and manages his land in a way that exemplifies farming for nature. Oliver has done a variety of conservation actions on the farm, including restoring old field systems and protecting natural springs. He is passionate about nature and shares his knowledge freely with the next generation through farm walks with Botany students from NUIG. In doing this, he is spreading a real understanding of what it means to farm for nature among the next generation. Oliver recently won the national ‘Farming Together with Biodiversity’ award in recognition for his efforts in conservation farming.

Mark and Alison Hurst

Mark and Alison Hurst run the 70-acre Featherfield farm with their farm manager, Julian Laitenberger in Lullymore, Co.Kildare. The farm is very diverse with enterprises such as beef production with Dexter cattle, a small sheep enterprise, a poultry layer and as well as a collection of rare breed poultry. There is also a small vegetable and fruit growing as well as a beekeeping enterprise.  They sell direct to customer and have an education centre as they are keen to encourage others to grow and produce food in a sustainable manner.  “We are just visitors on this land, and strive to leave it better than we found it for nature…whilst making an income”

Joe and Eileen Condon

Joe and Eileen farm 50-acres of enclosed farmland along with 1000 acres of commonage in the Knockmealdown Mountains, Co. Tipperary.  They keep a herd of Belted Galloways and Galloways which are 100% grass fed and organic.  They chose these cattle as they are well suited to the uplands, can be outside all year and can have a positive impact on their environment by controlling invasive species.  They sell direct to customer.  They are a good example of farmers that manage commonage ecologically and have their cattle outside 12 months of the year.  “We don’t feel hard done by working with this land, we can see its benefits and how to capitalise on that is to work in sync with nature than trying to manipulate nature to give you something that isn’t naturally there.”

Bridget Murphy

Bridget has been living on and farming mountain land for nearly 20 years. She would be the 8th generation she knows farming the land. She prefers to practice agroecology over agriculture or agribusiness and uses her farm as a case study on issues ranging from governance of the commons, to using native ponies and bees to diversify grazing / forage regimes on the hills. She keeps a flock of Cheviot sheep, four hill ponies and an apiary of native black bees, plants in copses of native woodlands and maintains watercourses and streams. She builds dry stone walls and keeps a few acres under traditional hay meadow. Her land has a healthy wildlife population that includes pine marten, badgers, foxes and lots of hares. The birdlife is prolific and there are small trout in the streams. Heath and blanket bog characterise the higher land parcels, and for the last decade she has been working on rewetting sections of the land; she sees the value in the allowing the natural habitat to return and recognises the need to keep the carbon stores locked in the ground. She is a long time land rights activist from her early days fighting the Apartheid system in South Africa and claiming land back for rural black communities, she is also a long time ecofeminist.

Birtwistle Family

The whole family have a keen interest in farming for nature and have been managing their small mixed stock organic farm with nature in mind for 23 years. They recognise their 25 hectare farm has many important high nature value habitats and do their best to balance farming with the conservation of these habitats.  The farm supports a rich diversity of flowers, trees, lichens, mosses and ferns, grasses and sedges, insects, reptiles, birds and mammals. Farming is undertaken with this in mind. They are delighted to be custodians of these habitats and take this responsibility seriously.

Michael Callinan

I think Michael deserves full credit and definitely national recognition for his work in farming for nature. Michael is a part-time suckler farmer situated in Inagh county Clare who devotes his farming love to nature and wildlife.

Mark Armitage

Mark has been a pioneer of Conservation Agriculture in Ireland. Incorporating it into his mixed farming system since returning to the family farm. Mark runs an Aberdeen Angus /Stabiliser herd as well as growing cereal crops and herbal leys.

Donna Mullen

What Donna and her family are doing on their farm is easily replicable, providing species specific habitat enhancement for bats, other mammals, birds and insects. Sharing their knowledge and experiences through hosting classes, Bioblitz, the Moynalty Goes Wild festival and farm nature reserves, this farm is a testament to their passion for nature and a wonderful example of how everyone can make a difference for the better.

Tom Moloney

Tommy Moloney farms with the wellbeing of his livestock, wild plants and animals foremost in his mind. He has retained native hedgerows, ancient forest, planted more native trees & protected wildflower meadows in spite of the financial cost to himself.

Kate Egan

Kate runs a 9-acre chemical free farm dedicated to biodiversity and permaculture in Ballymore, Co. Westmeath.

What was once a market garden providing fresh, local vegetables to restaurants and shops in the Midlands has transformed into a vibrant community growing project.

In 2023 Kate invited people to come and grow with her for a year. All involved are equal partners, managing the half-acre garden one day a week and share the produce grown .

Aswell as the garden, there is also a food forest and orchard. All aspects of the farm are managed for nature regenerating soil and growing delicious food in the process.

Kate also facilitates social farming, community workshops, camping, natural horsemanship lessons, tours  and pick your own days at the farm.

James Breslin

James is a founder member of the group that created the Inishowen Uplands European innovation Partnership. He has agreed to be a demonstration farmer for the project which will entail planting trees on the farm for the agroforestry measure, grazing cattle on the uplands in a managed way, establishing diverse clover swards, using red clover for fodder conservation and creating ponds on the farm.

Suzanna Crampton

Suzanna’s farm is near Bennetts Bridge, in Kilkenny’s beautiful Nore Valley, and represents a stunning show home for her farming ideas. Suzanna embraces a suite of farming practices that results in healthy animals and high-quality produce, while simultaneously encouraging farmland biodiversity to thrive. At Suzanna’s farm, farming and nature occupy the same space, and are not forced into distinct zones lying adjacent to each other.

Gareth Culligan

Gareth has based his crop establishment on the key principles of conservation agriculture (CA). The 3 fundamental principles of CA are “no till”, “cover crops” and “rotation”. Along with these principles he has incorporate the reduction of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertiliser as well as not using any insecticides whatsoever. Biodiversity, insects and bees are an important part of any eco-system and Gareth embraces these fundamentals to build a sustainable future on his tillage farm
Companion cropping is a pivotal part of his farm and is defined as the planting of different crops in proximity for any different reasons.

Ian McGrigor and Eileen Carroll

I think this farmer deserves national recognition for his/her work in farming for nature because: Since 1991 Ian and Eileen have worked hard to create a beautiful oasis for bioidversity on their organic farm, 5 miles outside of Tralee, where they grow food, have created multiple habitats, host people in their wooden cabins, host educational visits and have many examples of sustainability that could be adapted to other farms.

Killian Forde

We’ve known Kilian and his family since 1998 when the Trust bought a derelict cottage near his farm that was being used by approximately 30 lesser horseshoe bats in summer. Since then Kilian has assisted us in a variety of ways, all of which have helped us in our work to conserve this colony, now numbering over 150 bats. Of all the bat species found in Ireland, the lesser horseshoe bat is the one most dependent on access to old buildings on farms.

Mervyn Auchmuty

Mervyn manages a 500-acre mixed cattle and tillage farm with his father along the shore of Lough Ree, Co.Roscommon.  The farm uses a low disturbance strip till system to protect soil structure, increase earthworms, reduce leaching and prevent soil erosion. They use cover crops which are then mulched on top of the soil as a green manure. Additionally, slurry has been spread using a low-emission system for the last 10 years in intensively farmed areas of their land.  Mervyn’s is a good example of a farm that is making the transition from intensive methods of spraying to working with nature whilst not effecting the yield.  “The earthworm has gone up four times since I stopped ploughing”.

Ailbhe Gerrard

Ailbhe Gerrard has made a significant contribution to the protection and enhancement of nature on her farm and locality. Ailbhe took on the challenge to turn around a neglected farm through innovation and diversification to make a farm living.

Feargal Ó Cuinneagáin

Feargal Ó Cuinneagáin is a young farmer working on 10 hectares on the Mullet Peninsula. NPWS and Feargal entered an agreement under the NPWS Farm Plan Scheme in March of 2016. The primary objective was to return Corncrakes to the farm, while also boosting wider biodiversity including Twite (another ‘red-list’ bird), Chough, Barnacle Geese, pollinators, and habitats in their own right like a species-rich fen.

Connie O’Connor

Connie O’Connor and his wife Julia farm 47 hectares near the source of the River Blackwater (Munster) at the foot of the Mullaghareirk Mountains on the Cork-Kerry border. His farm connects two Natura 2000 sites: the Stacks to Mullaghareirks SPA and the Blackwater River SAC. His farm is one of the project farms of the EU funded RaptorLIFE project, actively working to improve habitat for Annex species, especially Hen harrier, Atlantic salmon and Brook lamprey.

Séan Sullivan

Sean is based West Cork. He keeps 150 Scotch Blackface mountain ewes and is ably assisted by his wife Anna their daughters Kayleigh, Abbey and Kera, and son Aidan. Sean’s love of his community is reflected in activism in the local IFA and Urhan GAA club. His inherent understanding of the importance of pride in our culture and heritage is clearly apparent around his 100ha farm that comprises a mosaic of high nature value wet grassland, peatland and semi- natural woodland habitats.

James Keane

James is a suckler beef farmer in the Slieve Aughty Mountains Special Protection Area for breeding Hen Harrier. He became a participant in the Hen Harrier Programme in 2018. He has been an very active participant in the Programme and farms this important High Nature Value farmland area very sensitively.

Clive Bright

Clive raises 100% pasture-fed organic beef on his 120-acre farm in Ballymote, Co.Sligo, and he sells his beef direct through his business ‘Rare Ruminare’. His livestock are a mix of traditional breeds such as Hereford, Shorthorn, Angus, Irish moil and Galloway, well suited to thrive on the farm’s species-rich grasslands. He uses Holistic Planned Grazing, an adaptive grazing rotation that gives pastures adequate time to recover between grazing events. Using ecological principles and monitoring, Holistic Planned Grazing also allows him to formulate a plan to have his animals in the right place at the right time for the right reasons. This management has dramatically increased the diversity on his farm. Working
with the land’s natural capacity and the right genetics, Clive has shown you don’t have to supplement the animals’ diet if you work with nature. Clive is a great advocate for Agroforestry – merging trees and agriculture. He says, “Woodland pasture or silvopasture is the ideal habitat for livestock, providing shelter and shade and a source of additional nutrients. Trees over pasture add another level of green leaves multiplying the amount of solar energy the land captures; this enhances the mineral and water cycle and restores soil health, bolsters biodiversity and the overall resilience and productivity of the farm”. Over the last few years, ponds and wetland creation have become an integral part of Clive’s farm. He rationalises that if all life requires water, we should try to harness and cycle every drop that falls on the farm. From simple measures like making slit traps in old drains to new pond construction, holding water in the landscape and allowing it to soak deep into the soil rather than draining it away is his goal. Most of his wetland features have multiple uses, like slowing water down in the landscape, wildlife habitats, and reservoirs for livestock drinking water.

Ruairí Costello

Rúairí is a suckler beef farmer in the Slieve Aughty Mountains Special Protection Area for breeding Hen Harrier. He was a development farmer for the Hen Harrier Programme in 2017. He worked closely with the Hen Harrier Project team during that time, as the Programme was being developed.

Gerard Walshe

Gerard is a part-time farmer who runs a 85-acres farm near Moycullen, Co. Galway. Its scrub, woodland, and species rich grassland.  He manages that farm with the help of pedigree Belted Galloway cattle and is a enthusiastic believer and promoter of High Nature Value farming and farms with wildlife primarily in mind.  He is a good example of how marginal land can be farmed ecologically through correct stocking rates and represents the growing amount of part-time farmers.   “Farming needs to be supported toward ecological production not yield production”

Olly Nolan

Olly and his partner Chris have planted over 1,000 native hedging and trees. They converted a disused sand arena into an organic vegetable garden, planted an orchard with mainly traditional fruit trees and keep rare breed animals from their small herd of Irish Dexters to a couple of rare breed pigs for the freezer. They have also leased a number of lands in the area.

Michael Hickey

Michael runs a 100-acre organic farm in New Inn, Co.Tipperary where he  manages half the farm for tillage and the rest for his herd of 40 Aberdeen Angus and horses. The farm has a variety of habitats including seasonally flooded grasslands, fen areas, pastures and meadows. Michael manages his field boundaries as habitats and is a good example of someone who has spent the time looking to see what management practices best suits each habitat to give the most for biodiversity.  “I have given 30% of my farm over to habitats”  Michael is trying a number of different multi seed mixes, both solo and over seeding.  He enjoys being a mentor on The Horse’s Mouth mentorship programme. (Deceased in 2024)

Michael Silke

Michael Silke is an intensive dry stock and sheep farmer in the Shannon Callows. His 125ha farm is made up of “upland” (land that does not flood), and “callow land” (the portion designated as a SAC and SPA that is subject to flooding for up to six months of the year). His land on Inishee island is a nationally important breeding wader site for Lapwing, Redshank, Curlew and Snipe.

John Marrinan

John is someone who lives and breathes farming for conservation, he powerfully describes his environmentally friendly style of farming as being a ‘lifestyle choice’.

Read more about John Marrinan

Darina Allen

Darina Allen along with her husband, Tim own and run the Ballymaloe Organic Farm in East Cork includes one acre wide glasshouses which yield an abundance of fruit and vegetables throughout the year. The farm is also home to free-range livestock including pigs, beef and dairy cows (Angus, Kerry, Dexter and Jerseys), as well as many hens which provide a great supply of fresh, organic eggs. In addition, a further integral part of the Ballymaloe Organic Farm is Dairy. There are 6 Jersey cows which are milked daily to produce local cheese and yogurt.

Ciarán Ó Fatharta

Ciarán Ó Fatharta’s farm is on Inis Meáin, and like most Aran farmers, the farm is scattered throughout the island. Seventy five percent of the islands are within Special Areas of Conservation and most of Ciaráns farm is within the SAC on account of the fantastic Orchid-rich calcareous grassland, Limestone pavement and Machair habitat. These habitats and the incredible biodiversity associated with them have been conserved and maintained by the low intensity farming practiced by Ciarán and other Aran Island farmers.

Kate Carmody

Kate works very hard in highlighting all matters environmental and promotes change from highly processed foods back to organic as nature intended.

Vaughan Family

Campview farm lies partly within a Special Area of Conservation (Dunmuckrum Turlough) and a Special Protection Area (Donegal Bay) and encompasses a range of coastal and terrestrial habitats including Ireland’s most northerly turlough. It is a working farm but also involved in agri tourism, being on the Wild Atlantic Way; is a Bord Bia Quality Assured Farm and is actively engaged in Glás.

Aidan Griffin

Aidan is a young farmer who is very enthusiastic about all aspects of nature and farming. He is always open to trying new things on his farm to improve the conditions for wildlife and also for his beef herd. He understands the challenges of farming in the west of Ireland better than most and wants to keep the tradition going for future generations.

Billy Clancy

I attended a few open evenings/nature walks on Billy’s farm. I was impressed by Billy’s mixed habitats of pond, native woodland, hedgerows and species rich pasture. I also like his ethos in relation to Nature. I have no photos, only pictures in my mind.

Fergal Smith (Moyhill CSA)

The Moyhill CSA project supplies the local community with food. Recently a quired 60 acres to expand into regenerative beef farming.  They are involved in soil regeneration, habitat restoration , mass planting native Irish trees. They hold a very strong community ethos.

All well documented on social media channels

Donie Anderson

Donie Anderson is a hill farmer in the Dublin Mountains just a stone’s throw from the urban sprawl he farms in a very traditional way taking a great interest in the environment . He’s very involved in the Community where he lives with his wife and daughter and he’s a very active member of Wicklow Uplands Council and Wicklow Mountains National Park Council which both take in the Dublin Mountains

Boyd Bryce

Boyd and his wife Bride run a 350-acre farm on Inch Island, Co. Donegal. The farm is a mix of arable areas, sheep pastures and woodland, all of which is managed sensitively for nature. Boyd farms his land for nature and manages all aspects of the farm with nature in mind, including his shorelines, wetlands, woodlands, field boundaries and non-farmed areas.  He is a good example of someone who has spent a lifetime improving his farm for nature.   “Leave your hedges… a hedge without berries or blossom isn’t a hedge but a bundle of sticks” 

See here for a video he did about his farm in 2023

Tommy Earley

Tommy manages his 100-acre organic Aberdeen Angus suckler farm on the shores of Lough Allen, Co. Roscommon. He has been farming organically on the site since 1996 with a clear focus on nature and habitat conservation. His farm has high natural value with a variety of habitats such as intact raised bog, mature native woodland, species rich acidic grassland, wildflower meadows, lakeshore and river.  Tommy’s active role in local conservation has inspired others to follow his example in promoting nature on their own lands.  “We have lost of a sense of connectiveness under our feet and once we get that reestablished we will be on our way to a healthier planet”

Pat Dunne

FARMING FOR NATURE AMBASSADOR 2018

Pat is a sixth-generation hill sheep farmer in Glenmalure valley, County Wicklow. He farms with his two sons, together keeping 1,100 ewes on 1,250 acres of commonage. The farm is 90% mountain grazing, mostly dry heath and upland grassland which is all designated SAC and NHA. The area is rich in wildlife, including grouse.

Pat takes his role as the current “keeper” of the family’s long tradition of work on the uplands seriously and is anxious to hand-over the Wicklow hills in the best possible condition to the next generation of upland farmers. He feels that over the last 40 years there has been a slow but progressive decline in hill sheep farming, with the quality of the grazing declining along with the associated biodiversity, as bracken and Molinia start to take over. Pat was determined to work out a solution to this issue and was instrumental in establishing the new Sustainable Upland Agri-Environmental Scheme (SUAS) so that farmers can work together to the better of the uplands. The project will explore key management issues including vegetation management through targeted grazing, feeding and burning. Pat feels that it is important to keep these places ‘as living landscapes, not just wilderness’.

Though he recognises the challenges, Pat loves farming and ‘doesn’t know a better way of life’.  He was one of the first Wicklow farmers to establish an “Agreed Access Route” on his lands. He is very involved in the local community, is the current chairman of the Wicklow Cheviot sheep owners association also in the Wicklow Uplands Council and was formerly at a National level on the IFA’s Hill committee.

Donal Foley

Donal has always been hugely supportive of new initiatives taking place in the area e.g. re-introduction of the White Tailed Eagle, establishment of the MacGillycuddy Reeks Forum, development of an ‘app’ for the Kerry Way walking trail etc. He really cares about his livestock (sheep) and has a great understanding of the need to manage and protect the land he farms on. He has a wealth of information on the folklore of the area and a few years ago had an archaeological study undertaken on his land to find out more about the ‘unusual’ stone and rock formations.

Padraig Donna

Padraig is one of the youngest sheep farmers remaining farming on the MacGillycuddy Reeks, farming an exceptionally challenging landscape. Padraig is fifth generation here having taken over from his late father John. Padraig farms the commonage Coomcalee, which is 1,472 acres with the other shareholders. This commonage lies at the foot of Carrauntoohil so great patience is needed with over 125,000 walkers annually, passing through. Some of the walkers do not understand that the land is privately owned so Padraig says ‘sure I suppose how would they know unless someone tells them’.

Calvey Family

Martin lives in Keel, Co Mayo with his wife Angela. They have 8 daughters and two sons and have farmed on Achill Island for seven generations. Martin farms a herd of 150 Black-faced Mountain Sheep on his shareholding of an extensive (20,000 acre) commonage, as well as on an area of machair (a rare seaside habitat). These ‘Mayo blackhead ewes’ have been kept on this farm for many generations and are perfectly adapted to grazing the mosaic of protected habitats – from mountain to seashore – where they play a key role in maintaining local biodiversity. Martin is also a master butcher and he and his family have, since 1962, run the only abattoir on Achill island. The Calveys sell their trade-marked ‘Achill Mountain Lamb’ from their local shop as a high-quality food product, one which has won numerous awards and is the choice of many top-chefs through the west of Ireland, including Ashford Castle. Martin is a champion of good environmental management – a member of the local ‘custodians of the commonage’ group who helps ensure the land is properly cared for, as well as a great advocate for the link between habitat management, local food production and the added ecosystem and financial value that can result. As his daughter Martina says ‘We respect nature, we work with it and it rewards us very well’.  They were the overall winners of the Farming for Nature Award 2018 through public vote.

Ailbhe Gerrard

Ailbhe Gerrard purchased Brookfield Farm, 26 ha, close to her Tipperary family home late 2010. Ailbhe took on the challenge to turn around a neglected farm through innovation and diversification to make a farm living.  Ailbhe’s farm enterprises include: organically certified lamb, honey bees, agri-environment – including 3 ha flower meadows, conventional tillage, and, native woodland and broadleaf plantation.

Claire Wilkinson

Claire is an organic farmer and works with her family to work in hand with nature to the benefit of wildlife and environmental sustainability in an area along the beautiful River Suir and amidst an intensive agricultural area. Maintenance of wildlife habitats and control of noxious weeds maintain a balance between nature and the working farm.

Sean O’ Farrell

Sean manages a 60-acre certified organic Cloncannon farm on the western slopes of the Devil’s bit Mountains, near Moneygall in North Tipperary. Sean has been farming since he took over from his father 15 years ago and now keeps a 20 cow suckler herd, as well as pigs, poultry and goats.

A University graduate with a Master’s degree in Biodiversity and Conservation, Sean is a heritage enthusiast, continuously planting native trees, putting in ponds for wildlife and pollinator strips for his beehives and birdlife.  He does this to encourage biodiversity but also for his personal fulfilment and satisfaction ‘for when he has aged 30 or 40 years from now’. He says that this is part of ‘my 5 year plan, my 50 year plan, my 500 year plan’ and feels that farmers should think long-term like the native Americans, ‘seven generations from now’

Sean feels he is on a journey of learning and he is particularly passionate about the importance of soil and making sure it is properly nurtured to ensure good crop health – ‘the microbes and the fungi – so minute yet so powerful, they drive the whole system’.  Sean runs numerous education programmes for primary and secondary schools, hosts events for Biodiversity and Heritage Week and opens the farm as an eco-tourist visitor site.

Ciaran Sheelan

Ciaran is involved in creating a locally led project application for the Cooley Mountains. The project was created to seek investment that directly supported active hill farmers in his community. Bracken encroachment is a big issue on his commonage and on many others on the Cooley peninsula. Ciaran saw this locally led funding as a good opportunity to get something positive done in his community.

Padraig Corcoran

Padraig and his wife Bernadette, along with their four children, have a cattle and sheep enterprise on their holding in Mount Plunkett, near Lough Ree, Co. Roscommon. Padraic manages a 54-acre section of an old estate – which he and his family run as a Nature Reserve – composed of diverse range of tillage, grassland, woodland and wetland. He has restored woodland, planted new hedgerows, dug ponds, installed bat and bird boxes and restored wetland areas for breeding waders of conservation importance by clearing encroaching scrub.  He has established plots for wild birds and used seed mixes that are optimum for biodiversity.  Padraig is very knowledgeable and keen to advocate for getting the best for biodiversity from his landscape.  A modest man, he claims “We don’t do anything special, just care for what’s there. Farming is about being sensitive and compassionate to the environment that we are working in’. Padraig is very passionate about sharing his story with others: he has hosted numerous guided walks, courses and other events and has featured on RTE’s Eco Eye and Ear to the Ground.

Kim and Mirielle McCall

Kim and his wife Mireille manage a 214-acre mixed livestock stock farm in Calverstown, Kilcullen, Co. Kildare. They keep a herd of 75 pedigree suckler cows and their followers, a flock of c.80 sheep, as well as a few pigs in the summertime. The farm boasts a wide range of habitats – wetlands, woodlands, wet and dry grasslands, old buildings and walls – which, for the McCalls, makes a walk around the farm ‘a very pleasurable experience, even when things might not be going too well otherwise’.

Kim acknowledges that farming sustainably isn’t easy, particularly trying to remain profitable, but feels that if you manage the land within its capacity, it’s very doable – ‘farming for nature, not against it’ as he says. No artificial fertilizers are purchased, no pesticides are used and hedgerows and grasslands are rarely topped – ‘tidiness is a state of mind’ according to Kim – with the preferred approach being a careful and balanced management which has resulted in an ideal situation for nature – birds, butterflies, bees – to thrive. The McCalls work in this regard has been recognised by several National awards and several appearances on TV. The McCalls work closely with the National Biodiversity Data Centre, providing valuable data.

Kim is concerned about changes in the rural landscape, in particular the loss of wetlands to forestry, as we try to increase carbon sequestration, a potentially worrying trade-off in his opinion. He offers the following advice on farming for nature: ‘Stand back and look – observation is the basis for intelligence’.

Here is a leaflet that Kim and his wife Mirielle put together on their farm. View here: Calverstown Farm

Dominic Gryson

Dominic is inspirational in the enthusiasm and passion he has for preserving and cultivating historic varieties of wheat such as emmer, einkorn, and spelt. On his farm in Cornstown in north County Dublin he dedicates part of his land to growing these and other older varieties including ones that produce long straw which is required for thatching. Ireland’s thatched buildings were created from materials that were readily available in the locality.

Edmund Joyce

Edmund Joyce is a drystock farmer from near Borris in Co Carlow. He runs a herd of limousin-cross suckler cows and a flock of commercial Suffolk-cross ewes on the 125 acre holding.   Since taking over the farm in 2007 Edmund has planted over 6000 native trees in different newly established groves around the farm. These plantations comprise of a mix of mainly oak, Scot’s pine, common cherry, alder, rowan and birch with an under-storey of hazel and holly. Young elm trees, propagated from some old elms near the farmhouse have also been planted through this plantation with one of the old Elms believed to be the second oldest Elm in the county.

Donal Sheehan

Donal, along with his wife Ita and two children, farms a 70-cow dairy herd on ‘Blossom Farm’ near Castlelyons, in the Bride valley, Co. Cork. While Donal runs what would at first be considered a ‘typical’ intensive farm, he has a keen interest in farming in a more nature-friendly way. As he puts it ‘we try to push the boat out all the time trying to make farming around here more sustainable’. He dedicates a proportion of his farm to biodiversity including ponds, pollinator strips and wild bird cover for overwintering birds. He keeps bees and farms with these in mind minimising herbicide use.  He doesn’t cut hedges and has energy saving devices on his milking machines. Donal believes farmers can make a huge difference in improving biodiversity, lowering their carbon footprint and improving the quality of our water. Such is his conviction and vision, that he is one of the main drivers of an innovative new pilot project called The BRIDE (Biodiversity Regeneration In a Dairying Environment) Project which rewards farmers for delivering measurable improvements in biodiversity over a 5 year period. Donal is a very eloquent advocate for – and exponent of – farming for nature.

Olly Nolan

Olly started his 8.5 acre smallholding in August 2012 with his partner Chris and since then have been developing it into an ecologically run self sufficient farm with nature and wildlife in mind. They converted a disused sand arena into an organic vegetable garden, planted an orchard with mainly traditional fruit trees and keep rare breed animals from their small herd of Irish Dexters to a couple of rare breed pigs for the freezer. They have also leased a number of lands in the area.

Pádraic Ó Flaithearta

Pádraic’s management is responsible for the conservation of some of the best examples of calcareous grassland in Ireland. Pádraic manages the machair part of his farm to ensure the breeding success of ground nesting birds as well as maintaining species diversity of this special habitat which only occurs on the west coasts of Scotland and Ireland and is at the most southern limit of its distribution on the Aran Islands.

Feargal Ó Cuinneagáin

Feargal Ó Cuinneagáin is a young farmer working on 10 hectares on the Mullet Peninsula. NPWS and Feargal entered an agreement under the NPWS Farm Plan Scheme in March of 2016. The primary objective was to return Corncrakes to the farm, while also boosting wider biodiversity including Twite (another ‘red-list’ bird), Chough, Barnacle Geese, pollinators, and habitats in their own right like a species-rich fen. NPWS and Michael Martyn Agri-Environment Consultants worked closely with Feargal in designing and implementing a series of measures to convert what was a rather lifeless monoculture of grass to a tapestry full of colour, sights and sounds as would have been commonplace throughout the Irish countryside in previous generations. This plan however is not a step back in time, rather it is seen as a way forward.

Tommy Earley

For many years Tommy has consistently come up with and sought out ideas and ways to protect, promote and enhance the biodiversity, habitats and environmental awareness on the farm, in his local community and the region.