Ireland on Foot:
Megaliths, Wildflowers, and Traditional Craft
on the Burren Coast
May 9-15, 2020 in County Clare
With Murphy Robinson
Angie Nash
Mollie McElroy
& Lucy O'Hagan
The Burren Coast in Ireland is home to one of the most diverse and prolific communities of wildflowers in the world. This May we will hike this haunting landscape, visiting the ancient barrows, fairy forts, and sacred wells that speak of Ireland's ancient past. We'll spend our evenings in a cozy cottage by a river, right on the Burren Way network of hiking trails. Each day we'll explore a different part of this breathtaking region.
Come join us as we explore the Burren Way together:
Let the magic of peak wildflower season in the Burren soak into your bones as you trace the ancient paths with your feet and sit by the ancient stones, letting the ancestral wisdom in this land speak to your heart.
Angie Nash, a British nature educator living in Cornwall, will join us to teach about the local plants and landscape. Lucy O'Hagan, an Irish nature educator and lover of myth & history, will join us to teach ancestral skills and tell stories. Mollie McElroy, and Irish-American who has spent time working on Irish farms and B&Bs, will keep us well-fed on delicious Irish food and fairy-stories. Mountainsong Expedition's founder, Murphy Robinson, will be wrangling the logistics, leading many of our hikes, and sharing their perspective on spiritual connection to land & the ancestors of place.
This trip is open to women, trans, and queer people. The group size is limited to 8, and we will collaboratively design our days together based on interests and weather. We'll choose hiking routes from easeful to ambitious depending on the inclinations of the group. This trip focuses on Irish culture and may be of special interest to those with Irish ancestry, but make no mistake, you are warmly welcome on this trip regardless of your ancestral or ethnic background.
Here are some pictures from Murphy's last trip to the Burren Coast:
Come join us as we explore the Burren Way together:
- Explore the traditional walking paths of the Burren Coast
- Visit the famous Poulnabrone Tomb and learn about this ancient Irish burial site
- Identify the countless rare wildflowers that this region is famous for
- Learn to dye fabric with native Irish plants
- Harvest and eat seaweed from the Atlantic coast
- Learn to find tracks and sign from Irish wildlife along our walks
- Make a small basket from Irish hedgerow plants
- Practice ancient skills for making cordage and tanning
- Listen to local Irish myth and prehistory that will give depth to our connection to place.
Let the magic of peak wildflower season in the Burren soak into your bones as you trace the ancient paths with your feet and sit by the ancient stones, letting the ancestral wisdom in this land speak to your heart.
Angie Nash, a British nature educator living in Cornwall, will join us to teach about the local plants and landscape. Lucy O'Hagan, an Irish nature educator and lover of myth & history, will join us to teach ancestral skills and tell stories. Mollie McElroy, and Irish-American who has spent time working on Irish farms and B&Bs, will keep us well-fed on delicious Irish food and fairy-stories. Mountainsong Expedition's founder, Murphy Robinson, will be wrangling the logistics, leading many of our hikes, and sharing their perspective on spiritual connection to land & the ancestors of place.
This trip is open to women, trans, and queer people. The group size is limited to 8, and we will collaboratively design our days together based on interests and weather. We'll choose hiking routes from easeful to ambitious depending on the inclinations of the group. This trip focuses on Irish culture and may be of special interest to those with Irish ancestry, but make no mistake, you are warmly welcome on this trip regardless of your ancestral or ethnic background.
Here are some pictures from Murphy's last trip to the Burren Coast:
Join our Imbolc Webinar to meet the guides!
To learn more about the trip, join us for a special Webinar on January 26th at 10am EST. Our guides will be sharing history, myth, and traditional crafts, speaking to us live from Ireland, Britain, and Vermont.
What will I learn on the webinar?
Missed it? Here is a recording of the webinar:
To learn more about the trip, join us for a special Webinar on January 26th at 10am EST. Our guides will be sharing history, myth, and traditional crafts, speaking to us live from Ireland, Britain, and Vermont.
What will I learn on the webinar?
- Connecting to the Land with Murphy Robinson of Vermont: Murphy will share reflections on the difference between sightseeing tourism and connecting deeply to the land itself when we travel. We come to know a place in a truly embodied way when we hike its paths, sit with the ancient stones, meet the native plants, and taste the local wild foods. Murphy will share some ecological and human history of the Burren coast. (10 min)
- Brigid Tales with Lucy O'Hagan of County Meath, Ireland: With the approach of the ancient festival of Imbolc, and the return of spring to the land, Lucy will share stories of the ancient triple goddess Brigid, who she was and what the relevance of her teachings are for our lives today. Lucy will also demonstrate the ancient custom of weaving a Brigid’s cross as she weaves the threads of story. (15 min)
- Hedgerow Baskets with Angie Nash of Cornwall: Our trip to Ireland will take place during May, when the hedgerows are bursting with songbirds and spring blooms. Angie will demonstrate a traditional technique for stitching together a small basket made from hedgerow plants (a project we will be crafting on the trip). (10 min)
- Connecting through Food with Mollie McElroy of Vermont: Mollie will share her experiences connecting with the Irish landscape of her ancestors through growing food on an organic farm & cooking at an Irish B&B. She will describe a sample meal she's planning to cook with us during the trip. (10 min)
- Trip Details and Q&A
Missed it? Here is a recording of the webinar:
Your Guides
Murphy Robinson (they/them) is the founder of Mountainsong Expeditions. They first learned to lead hikes during a year abroad in Yorkshire, England, and have a deep love of hillwalking in Northern Europe and the British Isles. They have led backcountry trips from California to Sweden, and now make their home in the mountains of Vermont.
Murphy completed a bachelor's degree in Medieval Studies and has continued to study the history and literature of their European ancestors, with a particular focus on pre-christian traditions and folk practice.
Murphy is a teacher in several communities centered on earth-based spirituality (including our Way of the Weaver program), and encourages everyone to learn to listen to the deep voices of the land and of their ancestors. They believe that hiking can be a prayer for wholeness and a reclamation of our heritage as children of the earth.
Murphy completed a bachelor's degree in Medieval Studies and has continued to study the history and literature of their European ancestors, with a particular focus on pre-christian traditions and folk practice.
Murphy is a teacher in several communities centered on earth-based spirituality (including our Way of the Weaver program), and encourages everyone to learn to listen to the deep voices of the land and of their ancestors. They believe that hiking can be a prayer for wholeness and a reclamation of our heritage as children of the earth.
Angie Nash (she/her) has studied traditional crafts and survival skills all over the world. She is the director of Panash Adventures, and brings her local expertise on the coastal plants of the seashore, pastures, and hedgerows we will encounter on our walks along the Burren Way.
Angie will teach us about local dye plants, hedgerow basketry, edible seaweeds & plants, and local wildlife track & sign. Angie grew up in England and currently resides in Cornwall.
Angie will teach us about local dye plants, hedgerow basketry, edible seaweeds & plants, and local wildlife track & sign. Angie grew up in England and currently resides in Cornwall.
Lucy O'Hagan (she/her) is an Irish ancestral skills instructor who teaches woodcraft and ethnobotany across the Emerald Isle. She is the founder of Wild Awake, which offers a forest school program for youth in Dublin and nature-based skill workshops for all ages around the country. Lucy will bring us stories and context from Irish myth and prehistory, as well as teaching us about making cordage, tanning fish skins, and using local plants for food and medicine.
Lucy is passionate about supporting people to re-establish their connection with themselves, their communities and to nature, of which we are a part. She is particularly interested in rewilding and rekindling the knowledge and skills we once knew so intimately, which connect us to our place in the world.
Lucy is passionate about supporting people to re-establish their connection with themselves, their communities and to nature, of which we are a part. She is particularly interested in rewilding and rekindling the knowledge and skills we once knew so intimately, which connect us to our place in the world.
Mollie McElroy (she/her) is a queer, Scotch Irish-American witch living in Vermont where she co-owned a catering business out of Montpelier with her sister. In the summer of 2009, she spent time working on various farms in Ireland and developed a close tie to the land. She delighted in learning to make brown soda bread and porridge every morning at a Bed & Breakfast on Sherkin Island in West Cork and is excited about traditional food from many cultures. She will make sure we are deliciously fed on every day of our trip, and in the quiet moments, share with us faerie stories and little Gàildhig (Gaelic) phrases and songs round the fire.
All The Details
What is included in the trip:
- Transportation by van from Shannon Airport to our little cottage in Fanore, Co. Clare.
- Six nights in a charming cottage with fully modern plumbing and lighting. Bedspace is available for eight (two people will need to share a bed).
- Delicious home-cooked breakfasts and dinners all week, along with a selection of food for packed lunches to take on our hikes.
- Guided hikes with experienced walk-leaders Murphy and Angie, as well as instruction in how to read the local Ordinance Survey Maps yourself.
- Instruction in place-based crafts: dying with local plants, hedgerow basketry, cordage, fish skin tanning, and collecting & preparing local wild food plants & seaweeds.
- Transportation by van back to the Shannon Airport at the end of the week.
- Transportation from your home to the Shannon Airport.
- Entry fees for tourist attractions in the area that you might choose to hike to (such as the Cliffs of Moher). The natural sites, walking trails, and ancient tombs in the area of our cottage are generally free, only developed & commercialized sites have a fee.
- Your passport
- Sturdy waterproof hiking boots
- Thick wool hiking socks
- A small backpack for dayhikes (waterproof or lined with a plastic bag)
- A raincoat and rainpants for rainy days
- A hat for sun and rain
- A warm hat
- Comfortable hiking clothing & warm layers, including non-cotton baselayers
- Cozy clothes for the evenings in the cottage
- A journal & pen
- Toiletries & medications
- Optional: art supplies for drawing local flora & landscapes
- Optional: Hiking poles
- Optional: a pocketknife for carving projects
- Optional: a camera & batteries or charging cord with UK adapter
- This trip costs $1,850 (USD).
- A $500 deposit is required at registration, and payment in full is required by May 1st.
- To register, go to our Registration Page.
