Amma Ireland's Northwest satsang group

Amma Ireland's Northwest satsang group had a great stall at the 'All-Ireland & Five Nations Sheep-Shearing Championships' in Co. Donegal recently. The event was held in the fields around the Grianan of Aileach - the 5th-century ring fort of the Northern O'Neills - welcoming 15,000 visitors over the weekend.
It was a bit like running a 'mini' version of Amma's Dublin programme: setting up the tent, cooking the snack food, running the bookshop/GreenFriends stalls, selling pakoras, hot drinks, cooked snacks, homemade juices and delicious lassi - and having great fun and song as we went :)
The GreenFriends table promoted care of birds, bumblebees and butterflies, as well as raising funds for Amma's Charities. As Ricky said, "Members of the public were interested in attracting and looking after smaller birds like wrens, robins and tits in their gardens and making sure they had enough food and good habitats for them.... [And] without bumblebees and honeybees, our food chain would fall apart and hunger would be widespread. We sold a number of bee-logs and hope to provide these at future GreenFriends events as well".
A hard-working, flexible team made this fundraising event possible, great weather made the weekend even more enjoyable, and all worked together in good spirits, spreading awareness of Amma's message in our local community.

Thanks to Amma's Northwest satsang group for this inspiring post. Have a look at the slideshow or ammairelandinfo's Gallery for great photos of the event.

Why not get involved with organising forthcoming events around the country? Contact help@ammaireland.org for more info!

Satsang in Galway and Cork this evening

Come along to Galway satsang group this evening 7.30pm , all welcome! For directions, contact Toni on 087 6871516

Cork Satsang group gathering today too, hope to see you 7.45pm for the very last satsang in St. Luke's (watch blog for new venue!). Come along and bring a little snack to share. For directions call or text 0877556619

Viewing the slideshow and albums

Just in case you might not know: if you click on the slideshow, it should open in a new window where you can view the photos in larger format. From that window, you can also access all Amma Ireland albums (well, all those we've managed to upload so far!) by clicking the 'ammairelandinfo's Gallery' tab: that'll take you to all the albums, so just click the one you want to view :)

GreenFriends Beekeeping Day at the Hollies in West Cork

60,000 bees in a hive - did you know that? Bees & Nature-friendly ways of beekeeping were the subject of last Sunday's Bee-Friendly day. We learnt all sorts of extraordinary facts about bees: like they never sleep, ever. And they can travel up to 1.5 miles from the hive and still find their way back -yet if the hive has been moved 4 feet from its original position, the bee can't find it: 2 feet no problem, but 4 feet and the bee is lost ... strange but true!
We had an amazing day! Loads of thanks to David for sharing his vast knowledge of, and respect for, the lives of bees with us. David has some hives at the Hollies in West Cork, the sustainable living community project where we held the day: thanks so much to everyone at the Hollies for hosting the event and welcoming us so warmly, showing us the gardens, the cob houses, inspiring us all with what a few people have done in a decade or so, to develop this amazing place.
We all got 'suited up' in beekeepers' gear and went off to visit the hives for real: a fascinating and most instructive experience, though terrifying for the first few minutes (will my suit really keep the 60,000 bees out??). Awe-inspiring too, when you see the active bees and the way they live in the hive.

To join us at the Amma garden hives in West Cork, or if you're thinking of beekeeping yourself or if you'd like to know about future Bee-Friendly days, let us know: greenfriends@ammaireland.org

Croagh Patrick Mountain Climb

One of the Highlights of our Fundraising Events for 2009

Amma Ireland Sponsored Croagh Patrick Mountain Climb
Croagh Patrick, near Westport, Co. Mayo, has long been a sacred mountain and a place of pilgrimage for Irish people. Many of us have at one time or another joined the traditional pilgrimage which climbs to the summit each year in July.
Following the success of the Amma Ireland sponsored climb last year, the event has now become an annual highlight of our fundraising efforts and in early May this year, a group of intrepid climbers set off up the mountain once again....

Event Target €15,000 surpassed again this year!
.... and once again, the climbers have raised more than the target amount they set themselves: congratulations to one and all, this is really inspiring! It was a wonderful day of fun, spiritual reflection and companionship, and the funds raised will go to help alleviate suffering through many branches of Amma’s charities, such as health care and education to combat child prostitution, free housing, suicide prevention and other measures to combat the results of extreme poverty.
Mike, joining the climb for the second time said, “We had a great day, we got to raise money for Amma’s charities, meet nice people and spend time together. Also, it was a great workout, the views were beautiful and there was a good sense of achievement on reaching the top”.
Ralph - at 9 nine years old our youngest climber, though already a veteran as he joined the climb in 2008 as well - said, “It was good fun and exercise, and it was very easy!!!" Not everyone may have found the climb as easy as Ralph, but everyone agrees it was good fun and well worth the effort!

Keep an eye on the blog for more info & pics very soon, from a fantastic Amma fundraising event recently, in Donegal!

If you'd like to join the climb next year, or get more info on how you can participate in other efforts to support the alleviation of suffering, contact help@ammaireland.org - we'd love to hear from you :)

Amma's Woodland in Ireland

Sunday was our first step towards developing GreenFriends ™ Amma Woodland project; the day was really wonderful in many different ways, and great fun as well.
We'd rescheduled the full 'Weekend in the Woods' for later in the year, and had opted instead for a smaller one-day gathering, so that GreenFriends and John (who's offered to make his land and skills available for the project) could meet and get to know each other a little first.
John's welcome couldn't have been warmer or kinder; we were all completely at home in no time, sharing our knowledge of trees and nature, and learning so much from John's great experience with planting woodland, caring for trees, and even building his timber-frame house - a feat he insists is easily achievable without heavy machinery or big financial outlay.

John took us through the extensive woodland he has planted over the past 12 years, in an area one participant described as "John's 'Heaven'"; the area is incredibly peaceful and beautiful. It's wonderful to see the native trees allowed to flourish in such a natural, unspoilt environment, and to study the rich and varied plant and animal life that is supported in such an environment.

We got in some practice in maintenance of small trees: this is great fun and involves 'dancing' round the sapings in order to flatten grasses and weeds so that the young trees have adequate access to light and can thrive.

We visited an ancient well on the land and drank the fresh, cool water: the spring appears on maps of the area dating back to the 1600s.

We 'hugged' a huge old Monterey Pine, several hundred years old: not a native variety, but probably planted as a 'specimen' tree by landowners in the 1700s.

We spent time near a big old oak which, though it had fallen many years ago, had simply continued growing from the few roots that remained in the soil, with branches transforming themselves into 'trunks', and we saw what a vast range of other plant life a tree can support.

We shared a delicious lunch, including John's fresh-from-the-oven bread.

We'd brought harmomium and a drum, and had a lovely satsang to close the day, dedicating the project and our efforts to Amma and Mother Nature.

Next time, we'll be learning more about tree care and planting, planning where Amma's Woodland will be, and we'll do our first planting when the trees are fully dormant, as that's the best time to plant: November to February.

Everyone is welcome to get involved in the Amma Woodland project.

Contact us at greenfriends@ammaireland.org or phone/text 0857471483

Satsang in beautiful Inishowen this evening :)

Satsang at Bill's place, Clonmany, Donegal, in beautiful Inishowen! Come along and join in with the Donegal satsang group this evening at 7pm. All very welcome! For more details, email satsang@ammaireland.org or call/text 0868774036

Our evening with Br. Shubamrita

Br. Shubamrita came all the way to Ireland to bring us Amma's message of Love and to share some reflections with us, on what it can mean to 'take charge of our lives', with Amma's life as an example and inspiration. He spoke in a gentle, heartful way that was also thought-provoking and practical, showing the way to turn ideas into action in our lives.
After his talk we all had some delicious refreshments and then Br. Shubamrita lead us in singing bhajans, meditation and arati.
It was a delightful, memorable evening, and all our gratitude goes to Shubamrita, and to Amma for sending us her envoy.
It was great too to see Grace and Lorraine team up with so many volunteers to organise and run the event with all that involved, from beginning to end; there was a lovely sense of community, of enthusiasm and joy.
Have a look at the slideshow for photos of the evening!