GAIRDÍN an Phobail – Whiterock's Garden of the People – is currently blooming thanks to the help of an array of voluntary workers, local schools and community groups.

The garden has been in use for over ten years and began out of a project started by Springhill Community House's (SCH) Ciarán Cahill and others who were using the ethos of Liberation Theology espoused by figures such as Fr Des Wilson.

Seán Mac Brádaigh of Participation and the Practice of Rights (PPR) is one of the volunteers who have helped to revitalise the garden after it fell into neglect during the pandemic and has been working to not only get things growing and planted again but also on fixing up old beds, planting indigenous trees and making Irish language signs to make Gairdín an Phobail a place where Irish speakers can get together and nurture the local environment.

Seán said: "Volunteers have always been involved here. Ciarán and those from SCH were helping to run it for years and they did good work but had a few setbacks along the way and the garden got wrecked a couple of times. When Covid hit everyone who was using the place couldn't any more and it became derelict. Ciarán came and spoke with us at PPR and suggested we come here and get it put together again. From a few square feet of allotments it's now grown into a full community garden and we're in our third season.

"We're raising our son with Irish and when I brought him here he asked me what this place was. I said to him in Irish it was a gairdín and he asked whose it was and I said an phobail, the people, it was a garden of the people, gairdín an phobail."

GARDEN: Darius, originally from Poland raking his allotment patch to get ready for planting
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GARDEN: Darius, originally from Poland raking his allotment patch to get ready for planting

As testament to it being a garden of the people Seán showed how lots of different groups had their own space within the garden for growing everything from sunflowers to carrots, onions, rhubarb, wild garlic, potatoes and a wide assortment of herbs. In one corner a class from nearby Coláiste Feirste were preparing their own homemade wild garlic pesto made with ingredients from the garden and then grounded up using a mortar and pestle. Also there were jars of freshly made rhubarb jam which was picked a week before.

Seán said volunteers had been teaching pupils foraging lessons as well as the growing of plants and vegetables.

"We've been teaching foraging skills too and it helps people to reconnect with the land again. The majority of food and medicine comes from the ground in some way. The rhubarb for the jam came out of the ground last week. We've been working to fix some of the beds as well as some became dilapidated and users from the leisure centre raised money to help us repair them.

"We're not just based here, there's also a community garden down at the Mackie's site and Mumo down at Forthspring. When we have a surplus amount of food we'll hold a market in the summer. We also get help and support from Glór na Móna and the residents at Bleach Green Court beside us."

DELICIOUS: Wild garlic pesto which was prepared by pupils from Coláiste Feirste
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DELICIOUS: Wild garlic pesto which was prepared by pupils from Coláiste Feirste

Beside the food preparation, volunteers were making a compost heap with space in it to serve as a bug hotel and potential space for any small creatures. As well as engaging the community with nature, Seán stated the driving force behind the project was the Irish language.

"Our motto for the Irish language community has always been 'ná habair é déan é', 'don't say it – do it', so instead of waiting for the council to make the signs for us we made them ourselves and put them up. All the skills are already in this community, it's just about getting the resources together to bring them out. We all chip in for resources to keep things going and it's a lot of good will and hard work which goes into making it work."

Seán next showed other features of the garden such as a homemade pizza oven which was made completely using Black Mountain clay; the same clay which once made Belfast Bricks, which are famous throughout the world. Seán explained the pizza oven was built by hand and when fired up it can cook a pizza or heat up a roast. 

Some of the other projects the volunteers are involved with include seeding indigenous trees with environmentalist Aaron Kelly for planting on Black Mountain and cultivating a small pond which is teeming with tadpoles and will produce frogs in the garden, which will be able to eat the slugs and keep the garden healthy. Seán said nature is returning to the garden and a nature camera in the garden has already spotted a family of foxes who have started coming through the area.

IN BLOOM: A volunteer made statue stands amongst the growing vegetables and herbs
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IN BLOOM: A volunteer made statue stands amongst the growing vegetables and herbs

Maura Mhic Ionnrachtaigh, a teacher at Coláiste Feirste, has been taking pupils from their An Nead class, some of whom have special needs including autism, to visit the garden. Maura said the pupils had been coming every few weeks and it had helped them all connect with nature and get involved with all sorts of projects including planting, potting, weeding, chopping wood and preparing food grown in the garden.

Maura said a lot of the pupils struggled during lockdown and by going to the garden and getting involved they had been not only learning valuable skills but have also been able to enjoy being in nature.

Micheál, a pupil at Coláiste Feirste, who was helping to prepare the wild garlic pesto, said he liked spending time in the garden and helping out.

"My favourite thing is helping out and picking the plants and learning all of their names. I like using the oven  and helping to grow the vegetables and herbs, the only thing I don't like too much is doing heavy digging!"