Geography in Action in our Local Community

Holy Spirit Church

Rewilding Project Phase 1 2023 in collaboration with

St. Paul’s Secondary School, Greenhills

‘The leaves of the trees are for the healing of the nations’ Revelation 22: 2b REB

BACKGROUND Laudato Si’ is an encyclical of Pope Francis published in May 2015. It focuses on care for the natural environment and all people, as well as broader questions of the relationship between God, humans, and the Earth. The encyclical’s subtitle, “Care for Our Common Home,” reinforces these key themes.

In response to Pope Francis' 2015 encyclical, the impending loss of biodiversity and agreements made at COP15 in Montreal in December 2022, Irish bishops have asked parishes across Ireland to set aside 30% of their grounds for pollinators and biodiversity by 2030 so the land can be enjoyed "in perpetuity by the whole community."

With 1,365 parishes that include 2,646 churches across 26 dioceses on the island of Ireland, the initiative has the potential to make a difference to local biodiversity as well as create awareness of global conservation efforts. It also strives to increase awareness of church teaching on ecology and highlight the role of people of faith in protecting creation.

In August 2023, St. Pauls Secondary School, Greenhills responded to an invitation in the Holy Spirit Parish Newsletter by the Chairperson of the Parish Council, Ms. Dympna Sheehan, to volunteer to help with the Rewilding / Restoration project.

On Monday the 9th of October, almost 100 students from our school and their teachers took part in Phase 1 of the project. Under the direction of Ms. Ciara Kelly 3,500 spring flowering bulbs (snowdrops, crocuses, daffodils, and bluebells) were planted in prepared flower beds by two local parishioners Mr. Alan Tomney & Mr. Robert Meehan.

The students were taught about the importance of biodiversity and benefitted from the ‘hands-on’ opportunity to develop / enhance their appreciation of nature. They also enjoyed ‘meeting & greeting’ local parishioners attending Church / Pastoral Centre.

Following an acknowledgement of our Schools involvement in the Holy Spirit Parish Newsletter on the 15th of October, we were invited to ‘showcase’ our project with one other school at a conference hosted by the Archdiocese of Dublin in conjunction with Trocaire on the 24th of November in the Crown Plaza Hotel, Blanchardstown.

Our school students hope to continue their involvement in ‘Growing a Green Church’ in the local Parish in Spring. As active, able, and willing participants we look forward to assisting the Holy Spirit Church’s efforts to steward their buildings and land effectively in the context of a changing climate.

A REFLECTION ON THE REWILDING AT THE HOLY SPIRIT PARISH GROUNDS, NOVEMBER 2023

by Dympna Sheehan, Chair at Holy Spirit Parish Pastoral Council Cycling up the Greenhills Road to Tallaght in my youth it was possible to look across at the sweep of truly green hills. These gentle rolling hills I had learnt were eskers, the remains of glaciation, a strange and wonderful connection with the Ice Age. The “city” came to an end at Walkinstown Cross. Within a few years the new development of houses was built, and the parish of Greenhills sprang up. To quote WB Yeats “all (was) changed, changed utterly”. Rows of houses grew up where fields and trees had been. Young couples moved into the area and families grew.

The parish of the Holy Spirit developed with the opening of the beautiful church, the copper roof of which slowly becoming green as the community developed.

Many of the then young men and women became actively involved in church activities, supporting one another as lifelong friendships were forged.

The Sisters of Charity of St. Paul were integral to all that happened through the schools Primary and Secondary. Their tremendous contribution to parish life is beyond the confines of this article to describe. As the years passed gardens also developed; flowers, shrubs, trees, and vegetables benefitting from the rich soil.

But along with every neighbourhood more and more gardens began to disappear as people concreted their gardens to facilitate off street parking of cars. None of us I am sure considered that we were interfering with the environment. This seemed a small interference with biodiversity as opposed to chopping down the rainforests in the Amazon!

At the Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) meeting in March last 2023 Fr Michael Kilkenny communicated the call from the Irish Bishops Conference “to identify and care for 30% of parish grounds as a haven for pollinators and biodiversity, in order that it can be enjoyed in perpetuity by the whole community.” Their recommendation was that this would be achieved by 2030. The PPC agreed to explore this project at the end of the summer, and it was hoped to get our parish schools involved also.

During the week before Pentecost Fr. Donagh O’Shea OP had been invited to “unpack” the contents of the encyclical Laudato Si. Over 5 nights Fr. Donagh opened our eyes to the beauty and magnificence of creation, the millions of years and vastness of the universe, and the glory of God in all the beauty around us. One of the things that touched me was “the humility of water” which “always seeks the lowest place”, (quoting St Francis of Assisi).

But the summer moved on and the news of raging forest fires in Europe and USA, devastating flash floods in the most unlikely places, the loss of human life and wildlife due to unexpected natural disasters seemed to be regularly on our radio’s broadcasts and newspapers.

We had seven years to “re-wild” 30% of parish grounds. Not a very big ask and the church grounds have for years been carefully cared for by a small group of people quietly, unseen and mostly unnoticed by parishioners. But time moves on quickly, seasons change, children grow, people age and the urgency to move on the issue and begin a response to the Bishops’ request grew.

A notice was placed in the Parish Newsletter inviting people interested in the proposed “rewilding” project to volunteer and join the group being formed and together with the PPC begin to plan how this would develop. Not a single response!!! But then suddenly things changed. I had a chance meeting with Alan Tomney (parishioner) who is a trained horticulturist. Alan sounded very enthusiastic and agreed to meet with Ciara Kelly and myself. Ciara had already agreed to form the nuclear group to spearhead the programme. Several other members of the PPC showed an interest and when we met in July there was a lively discussion as to what should/could be done. Lots of ideas were pooled - to create a woodland behind the church; another aspiration would be to create a sensory garden which would benefit children with autism; another idea was to create a memorial garden. And the ideas grew, and excitement and the possibilities grew too. Involvement of young people from the local schools was a constant in the discussions. We had to think about management and in the long term, maintenance of the grounds. So, it was decided to make haste slowly, to start small and let the programme develop.

The first big decision was to cut down a large Leylandii tree at the rear of the church. Alan arranged with Robert Meehan, a tree surgeon to remove one tree which sounds like a total contradiction to what we were about. But this tree standing alone appeared to serve no purpose. Not true! Her branches when felled became the surrounds of the new flower beds. The much smaller branches were used to make mulch and the large blocks cut from the trunk will eventually be used as “seats” in phase 2.

In August we met again. Ciara was delegated to draw up an outline plan and to order spring bulbs which would attract pollinators during early development of the “wild area”. Having Alan and Ciara’s expertise and knowledge of biodiversity was a tremendous start. I listened fascinated as they talked about “yellow rattle” which when spread causes cultivated grass to die off by making soil less nutritious thus allowing the wild and natural seeds lying dormant underground to grow and flourish.

Deborah Skelly, a teacher in St Paul’s Secondary School contacted me offering to become involved. The small rewilding group met in September this time with Deborah and Robert, our “tree-feller”. Suddenly we had “lift-off”. The students in St Paul's school would be happy to become involved. With the consent of the principal and collaboration with class teachers we were offered a “work-force”.

Ciara and Deborah took over the detailed planning. The 9th of October was chosen as planting day. Robert arrived on Saturday 7th complete with his machinery and with Alan and Ciara the long tree branches were moved into place creating three large flower beds. Robert trimmed the grass and pruned the surrounding trees. Ciara then prepared the beds drilling holes with an auger so everything was ready for Monday.

The 9th of October was a momentous day. Soon after 9am groups of students accompanied by their class teachers arrived at the church grounds. Their youthful exuberance and enthusiasm were a delight to behold. Ciara directed and explained to each group how the planting was to be done. Parishioners coming out from mass were mesmerised by the young people at work. There was laughter and activity the likes of which had not happened in the church grounds often before. Hour after hour the same procedure was followed. Over 100 young people planted 3,500 bulbs!!! Those who were not actually planting were engaged in keeping record of who was there and what was happening. Handprints were made of each student. Four students with additional needs were helped by Ciara to experience the pleasure of planting some pots and enjoying the sensation and scents in the small flower and herb garden. The TY students filmed the activities.

It was a truly great day. Ciara and Deborah had thought of everything. Alan, Pat O’Reilly, Margaret Curran, and Ann Fitzharris put the finishing touches to the planted beds the following week by packing the surrounds with wood-chipping mulch from our late Leylandii. In doing so a habitat for all sorts of insects were put in place! Phase 1 was completed.

Where do we go from here? Planting and gardening are a bit like a pregnancy.

Now we wait patiently and quietly to see what the land will produce. Come Spring we expect a beautiful splash of colour. We are hoping that the school will continue this partnership, hoping that we will have a team of young observers who will record the different pollinators that are attracted to the grounds. It will be interesting to see which wildflowers will emerge. In the meantime, bird boxes have been ordered from the local “Men’s Shed” at the Greenhills Community Centre.

It has been a really rewarding project. I have discovered how wonderfully generous people are with their time. In His teaching Jesus said, “Ask and you will receive”. What appeared to be chance meetings with people were “God incidences”. Anybody asked to help in this “Rewilding” agreed immediately and followed through. Where we will be led, who knows?

How the parish grounds will look in 2030 has to unfold. New younger people with fresh ideas hopefully will join the group. A huge word of thanks to Deborah Skelly and the school. Thanks to Ross Wilson and Eileen Dillon both professional gardeners whose advice and ideas sparked off our thinking in the early stages.

Thanks also to Alan, Ciara, and members of PPC: Bernie, Catherine, Pat, Brendan, and Ann Murray (past chair). Without their involvement we would not be as far advanced.

Fr. Michael Kilkenny’s encouragement has been with the project from day 1.

“Fire Ahead” were his words when I first enquired about early plans. “Tus maith leath na hoibre” a deireann siad. I believe we have made a good start.

To quote our friend WB Yeats again, “A terrible beauty is born”.

In the case of our parish grounds hopefully a wonderful beauty is coming to birth.

PHOTO VIDEO OF SITE PREPARATION

STUDENT PARTICIPANTS IN PHASE 1 OF THE REWILDING PROJECT First Year Students Rang Gemma Rwdena Benyaghub, Amelia Burke, Abbie Connolly, Kira Cikareva, Chloe Connaughton, Kayla Cullen, Sophia Cummins, Saoirse Doherty, Hallie Mai Walsh, Kayleigh Geraghty, Irina Godorog, Muska Jamil, Maheen Kashif, Kaylin Mahon, Cassie Mansfield, Demi Mansfield, Isabelle Massey, Leah Mc Enroe, Isabelle Mc Inerney, Sophie Melia, Moon Shen, Laura Smith, Molly Tierney.

Rang Genevieve Lucy Coyne, Aoife Flinter , Megan Jophin, Vavara Zelenska.

Rang Grace Jaira Abinales, Alesha Abraham, Alexandra Arama, Alicia Asemota, Allie Davis, Sophie Flood, Millie Hendrick, Victoria Hession, Jazmin Joyce, Latysha Kisuka, Grace Lynch, Aoife Lyons, Ephra Mathew, Sophie McGreevy, Jia Yi Pan, Eliska Perry, Belle Ryan, Summer Shelley, Oliwia Soluch, Ava Sweeney, Grace Walsh, Millie Rose Wilson.

Rang Grainne Ali Baitson, Leia Bishop, Ella Boylan, Nariko Brits, Andrea Devine, Sophie Devine, Malak El Mir, Ria Gahan, Ava Herbert, Katie Holohan Hewitt, Lile Mae Jackson, Roheen Zahra Kashif, Lylah Kelly, Amy Leonard, Ava Martin, Maria Matjusenoka, Maria Mc Avinue, Hazel Mc Donnell, Yasmin Mesai Belgacem, Rachel O'Brien, Lacey O'Reilly, Hannah Pham, Suhana Noorain Shazaad.

Second Year Students Rang Eadaoin Joudy Ahmed, Michelle Ali, Lunna Borges, Nyah Rose Connolly, Sara Griffin, Sophie Griffin, Lucy Hyland, Nia Jokhadze, Victoria Karpiej, Moya May Kelly, Abby Lawrence, Katie Leonard, Holly Magee, Sienna Mc Dermott, Latoya Modise, Chau Nguyen, Sophia Nolan, Leah O'Connor, Holly O'Toole, Zion Osawe, Pelagie Philippe Newman, Robyn Potts, Emily Quinn, Ella Rooney, Sophie Sheridan, Mia Somers, Nataly Spimpolo Dos Santos, Louise Tynan, Ella Weir.

Rang Eimear Flourish Adugbole, Oleksandra Bodaretska, Grace Carolan, Sophie Donegan, Megan Foley, Lara Harding, Isabella Hobb's Mc Carthy, Lauren Holohan, Amira Lamii, Sophia Li, Orama Lipita, Raina Mahajan, Sophie Mason, Avah Mc Cann, Katie Mc Kay, Leyre Moreno Pedruzo, Divi Mwanza, Lexie Nolan, Sophie O'Connor, Zoe O'Halloran, Beibhinn O'Rourke, Ava Pritchard, Caoimhe Scally, Seereen Shetewi, Brianna Silion, Lucy Stone, Yuliia Vechenkova, Leah Vickers, Shirley Wei.

REWILDING PROJECT SCHEDULE PHASE 1, 9TH OF OCTOBER 2023.

TY REWILDING VIDEO OF PHASE 1 ON OCTOBER 9TH, 2023

TY interviewers and video production team: Aine Hickey Lucia Howlett Katie McDonald Ennis Coordinating teacher: Ms. G. O’Toole

STUDENT VOICE

PHOTO GALLERY

VIDEO OF SECOND YEAR STUDENTS PREPARING FOR THEIR PRESENTATION AT THE ARCHDIOCESE OF DUBLIN CONFERENCE ON LAUDATO SI’, 24TH NOVEMBER 2023

Video presenter: Sophie (2nd Year) Collage Team: Zoe (2nd Year) Beibhinn (2nd Year) Divi (2nd Year) Leah (1st Year)

STUDENTS HAND & LEAF PRINTED COLLAGE

THE ‘FOUR SEASONS’ ARTWORK IN PROGRESS

BY KATIE LEONARD (SECOND YEAR STUDENT)

By Katie Leonard (Second Year Student)

A very special thank you to our School Principal, Ms. Troy, Fr Michael Kilkenny, and Fr. Roddy Curran for all their support and encouragement.

Hopefully our story will continue in SPRING!