Courses and Events - full details

A National Heritage Week event

Tours of the gardens, traditional drystone wall, willow fedges, Irish apple orchard, bee area etc.

Parking is limited so please contact us.

A National Organic Week event

Walk and talk sessions in Organic demonstration garden and orchards.

Harvest display, and sale of produce from three local organic farms.

Booking essential, parking limited.  Please specify which session you wish to attend:

3:00 pm - 4:00 pm

 or

5:00 pm - 6:00 pm

We're sorry that particular course has been canceled, as one of our USA instructor is unable to come.

If you are interested in tracking skills, please look at our Bushcraft/Primitive Living Skills course.

We also run Permaculture courses on demand when we have sufficient numbers interested. Please contact us to add your name to the list.

Please also have a look at the other courses in the calendar, and add your email address to our newsletter mailing list (at the right) to hear about upcoming courses

 

IMPORTANT: Please note change of date!

Come camp with us for a weekend while taking your choice from courses in environmental and ecological trades for all levels. If you already have basic skills in one of these areas, you are welcome to develop your skills further with the guidance of highly qualified tutors. Courses are open to age 14+.

The way this weekend works is that you enrol in one class, but are welcome to stroll around and have a look at the other classes that are running.

Dry Stone Walling
Traditional dry-stone walling construction techniques - also garden features (retaining walls, raised beds, seats, steps). Steel-toe-cap boots are recommended. We will be working on a wall within Carraig Dulra's herb wheel or a proposed mini amphitheatre

Herb-lore
Plant Magic- Exploration of our native wild and garden plants includes edible and medicinal uses, folklore, gardening tips, herb walk, seasonal recipes, herbal tincture and ointment making.

Native trees and intro to Coppice Crafts
An introduction to our native trees and shrubs, how to survey a woodland and how to draw up a management plan.

Greenwood Furniture making
Constructing interesting and unique furniture items from native green hardwoods selected for the properties of the species as well as for the natural shapes and grains of the wood. Hand tools and traditional techniques are used throughout. Each student makes a simple object e.g. a wooden mallet as an introduction to the craft, before moving on to construct an item of furniture. Everything you need is provided but you might like to bring your own pencil, pocket knife, and hand-saw if you have them. We are open to new ideas so if you have a specific project in mind please contact us well in advance; we will accommodate you if viable.
Materials charge 20 euro.

Sugan Chair making
Using green wood and sisal to make your own small traditional sugan chair.
Materials charge 5 euro.

Felt making
Learn to make brightly coloured felt mats, hats and bags from sheeps' fleece. Please bring wellies, waterproof leggings, a towel and a cushion. Materials charge 15 euro.

We attended a great CELT weekend two years ago ourselves, and so we are very pleased to be working with them to hold this training weekend at Carraig Dulra. For those who haven't attended a CELT event in the past, this is a chance to try out some of these traditional skills at an east coast venue.

Tea, coffee and food available (additional cost) or bring your own. Camping free, or stay in a local B&B/hotel/hostel if you prefer.

For more information please contact us. For booking, go to the booking page.

This event has received support from the Heritage Council under the 2008 Grant Scheme

Private group's event

The complete organic gardening course! Participants will be able to follow the garden throughout the year.

A practical hands on course, participants will be expertly guided throughout the gardening year by attending one-day sessions every month.
A very practical course aimed at beginners who really want to start their own organic garden now. It is also possible to dip in and try one or two topics of your interest. Each course day contains both theoretical and practical information on growing organically

The course takes place at Carraig Dulra, Co Wicklow, but is being developed, supported and booked by The Organic Centre. See their course brochure online or in print. Price is per session; discounts are offered for 5 or more sessions.

As this is the second year at Carraig Dulra it should be noted that the gardens are still being developed, and there are basic facilities on site: compost toilets, and a heated yurt(canvas tent) for shelter and lectures. Visits to Wendy's established garden and her polytunnels will form part of the course.

The course takes place on the 3rd Wednesday of each month. Each day can be booked individually but preference will be given to people who book the complete course

Day 1: Introduction to Carraig Dúlra, digging in Green Manures, garden and fruit garden planning, rotation and ground preparation, lazy bed construction.
Day 2: Soil types, ph, early planting and tools.
Day 3: Compost, weed control, and companion planting, Spring planting, pricking out.
Day 4: Growing in polytunnels, pest and disease control.
Day 5: Growing culinary herbs (planting, sowing, propagation, harvesting and using). Some information on medicinal uses.
Day 6: Growing fruit: soft fruit, bush fruit, orchard design, planting.

Day 7: Filling the plate with beautiful salads. Sowing green manures also winter salads in tunnels, propagation from cuttings.
Day 8: Ground preparation for the following year, preparing new ground, autumn planting, seed saving, introduction to permaculture and forest gardening.

Day 9: Harvest Celebration/recipe swap (showing off the year's produce, participants bring some of theirs). Introduction to storing and preserving foods for the winter months.
Day 10: Fruit pruning, seeds and next years crop planning.

This course is administered by The Organic Centre, Leitrim. Please contact them directly to book it, or to cancel a booking.

This course will give you the basics of bushcraft and primitive technology. Anthonio will help you learn skills such as friction fire-lighting, tracking, shelter building and awareness. We will be making some necessary survivial items such as bowls, spoons and cord.

This is a weekend course; the cost includes all meals (breakfast, lunch & dinner on Saturday, breakfast & lunch on Sunday) and camping.

Camping facilities are basic; there is a fire pit/BBQ, compost toilet and cold drinking water (no showers).

Starting time: 9am sharp Saturday; finishing time 4pm Sunday.

Please bring a sharp knife (3-5 inch blade, non folding or lockable folding), rain gear, notebook and coloured pens, torch, leather gardening gloves, eating utensils, warm clothing, sleeping mat and sleeping bag & camping gear if you're camping with us. Also recommended is a pancho (for carrying leaves) & snack food/trail mix and a good sense of humour and fun!

If you require a knife, Anthonio can loan you one for the course (which you can optionally buy at the end of the weekend). He can also supply panchos.

We also offer an intensive week-long course in Primitive Living skills, Primitive Living 1.

This course can be scheduled for private groups of 6-10 people.

Three 2 1/2 hour sessions exploring nature, learning about biodiversity & habitats. For ages 5-8 and 9-12.

The children will explore wild areas of the farm and learn about habitats and biodiversity, with the help of local experts. Parents/grandparents and families are encouraged to attend with the child; each child needs to be accompanied by at least one responsible adult.

THERE ARE LIMITED PLACES ON THIS PROGRAMME. Preference will be given for children who can attend all 3 dates. The sessions are on Fridays and run from 3:30 to 6:00 pm.

You can Download the Registration form or pick up a copy at the WIcklow or Bray recycling centres.

Part funded by a Local Agenda 21 Environmental Grant from Wicklow County Council

Last year we were contacted by people wanting to drop in and see what we were up to. As we are not on the farm constantly, we have now added Regular Open/Volunteer Days to allow people to drop in, and get a feel for what Carraig Dulra is all about. Volunteering is optional. Picnicing and meeting other folk is possible. So far numbers are very variable.

The days are the 1st Wed and last Sat of every month from Feb-Oct, 10-4pm. (We will be there rain or shine, do wait, if you beat us to the gate. In very bad weather we will leave early after lunch)

We hope this make it even easier for people to meet one another, and this will lead to developing ideas and new networks and help a community arround Carraig Dulra grow.

You can come for all or part of the day, and we will have a big pot of hot soup on offer. Bring along something to share or a sandwich if you like.

PLEASE CONTACT US FOR DIRECTIONS IF IT IS YOUR FIRST VISIT! We have had a few folk circling Carraig Mountain hoping to find us. There is a GMO free Ireland sign but specfics will help you.

 

 

 

This course will start by making you feel comfortable in the wilderness as soon as possible without any society-manufactured tools such as knives, sleeping bags and matches. First you will get the basics of bushcraft and primitive technology. We will be studying skills such as friction fire-lighting, tracking, trapping, shelter building and awareness. We will be making bowls, spoons, cord and a variety of other necessary survival items.

Then, we will build on this knowledge with advanced skills such as pottery, weaving, bow-making and flintknapping. However, instead of just learning the skills once, we will be encouraging you to use the skills learned on a day to day basis, enabling us to bring you a lot deeper and learn many additional skills.

The aim of this course is to start in a “camping” fashion, but attempt to discard most of our equipment during the week. This means we will encourage you to move into your shelters and store away your sleeping bag. You will be lighting our fires by bow-drill only, and eat from bowls and cutlery you made yourselves. This course is by far the most popular course at Anthonio's training centre, Wild-Live.

Please arrive on the evening before the start of the course, so we can arrange the camp, get to know each other around the fire, and go through any health and safety policies that exist on site.

No previous experience needed. Please note that participants must be 15 or older.

Course costs are being finalised, but are likely to be in the region of EUR 300-350 per person.

PLEASE NOTE: Dates may be subject to change.