Course Calender 2024

Gift vouchers available.

To book a course online please  click here.

January

Bookings close on 22nd January 2024

in-person at University College Cork plus  field trip.

with Thomas Riedmuller (co-founder of The Hollies Centre and Permaculture Teacher at Cork College of FET/Kinsale Campus)

8 Tuesdays 7-10 pm and a full Saturday – Tour and workshops at The Hollies Centre for Sustainability near Enniskeane/Co.Cork (date to be confirmed with participants at the start of the course)

More details and bookings: 

with Thomas Riedmuller (co-founder of The Hollies Centre, MII certified mediator)

online only 10 Monday nights 7 – 10 pm 29 January – 22 April 2024

Closing date for applications: Monday 22nd of January 2024.

cost: € 310

More information and bookings: https://ace.open.ucc.ie/courses/ace2451-leadership-and-conflict-resolution

February

A series of events at The Hollies Centre for Sustainability to help you tune into the healing power of nature.

 8 -10 a.m. Sunday morning Imbolc
These days carry a particular energy in the natural rhythm of the year and offer specific opportunities for feeling connected.

Cost: voluntary donation

More opportunities for walking our labyrinth will be offered for special events that can be booked by e-mailing us
info (at) thehollies.ie
or by phone 023 8847001

MORE INFO & BOOKING directly with Selvi , selvinina@gmail.com
 

 

Facilitator: Selvi Iyilikci (Qualified Equine Assisted Learning Facilitator)

 

Please book directly through www. humanature.ie

Email: [email protected]

Mucky Boots Spring Sessions
10.30-2pm
As well as the usual mix of nature games, story and exploration, the theme of the three weeks will be ‘Trees’ – planting trees, identifying trees and learning how to use tools safely and begin to work with wood.  Some craft activities may roll over between one week and the next. 

Hands-on ‘ know-how- to’ workshop to get started growing your own veg.

Sunday mornings

Time: 10 – 2 pm

Cost: €60, tea/coffee/light snacks included

Facilitators: Selvi Iyilikci & John Conway

This practical workshop will get you started on transforming some of your garden into a productive vegetable growing space. We start with exploring different methods of making beds, using mulching techniques or lazy beds with an emphasis on no-dig.

Permaculture perspectives and techniques will be demonstrated and discussed throughout the day with an emphasis on creating a wildlife friendly space. Skills such as growing plants from start to finish such as seed sowing in trays, transplanting, maintaining and harvesting a variety of easy to grow vegetables will be demonstrated. Other topics include garden design, soil fertility, planting times and pest & disease control.

To book please  click here.

IMG_2224-e

March

10 – 4 pm Cost:

€80

Venue: The Hollies Centre

Tutor: Thomas Riedmuller

To book please  click here.

with group-e

This full day course offers you practical exercises and time for reflection to help you learn new ways of communicating, de-escalating conflicts and creating more harmonious relationships.

It will include skills such as Non-Violent Communication (Rosenberg) and family conference (Gordon). It is helpful for negotiating boundaries, organising home life, and increasing lightness and fun in spite of problems. You can attend on your own or bring your partner and/or teenagers along.

Thomas Riedmuller facilitates learning from the experiences of other course participants as well as from himself. 

Exclusive workshops for your family alone can be arranged outside of these dates.

Cost: € 70 pp (lunch, tea/coffee included) discounts available if you bring your family

MORE INFO & BOOKING directly with Selvi , selvinina@gmail.com

Facilitator: Selvi Iyilikci (Qualified Equine Assisted Learning Facilitator)

Please book directly through www. humanature.ie

Email: [email protected]

 

Cost: € 80, Lunch included

Going for a walk through the weeds we will identify and gather common, easy to find plants that are beneficial to our health and safe to use. We will then use what we’ve found for our medicine making.

In this spring course we focus on herbs and preparations that will help us to get going and renew our energy after the winter. We will make spring tonics and food medicines as well as preparing other medicines like teas, compresses, poultices and ointments.

 This will enable you to start filling your kitchen and home medicine cabinet with home made natural products to promote general health as well as remedies for coughs, colds, digestive problems, skin disorders, fatigue and first aid.

The workshops later in the year will focus on some different preparations.

To book please  click here.

Herbs have been used for promoting health since the dawn of humanity. Our modern society seems to have lost much of the knowledge about those remedies and is pushing us to hand over  the responsibility for our health to the professionals. This course could be a beginning for you in taking care of your and your family’s’ health – while still getting professional help for more serious issues.

Hands-on ‘ know-how- to’ workshop to get started growing your own veg.

Sunday mornings

Time: 10 – 2 pm

Cost: €60, tea/coffee/light snacks included

Facilitators: Selvi Iyilikci & John Conway

This practical workshop will get you started on transforming some of your garden into a productive vegetable growing space. We start with exploring different methods of making beds, using mulching techniques or lazy beds with an emphasis on no-dig.

Permaculture perspectives and techniques will be demonstrated and discussed throughout the day with an emphasis on creating a wildlife friendly space. Skills such as growing plants from start to finish such as seed sowing in trays, transplanting, maintaining and harvesting a variety of easy to grow vegetables will be demonstrated. Other topics include garden design, soil fertility, planting times and pest & disease control.

To book please  click here.

IMG_2224-e

April

dates to be confirmed
MORE INFO & BOOKING directly with Selvi , selvinina@gmail.com
 
Children, aged 9 -13 years
 

Join the Pony Tribe to learn about horses, yourself and other children and make friends with the Hollies Equine Team: Luna, Gary and Podge.

The Hollies Pony Tribe brings children together to promote acceptance of self and others, provide team-building experiences, and encourage self-expression while having fun learning about and interacting with horses. The activities will cover basic horsemanship skills such as leading, grooming, tacking up, groundwork and stable management. There will be horse games, natural horsemanship, horse communication, mindfulness with Luna, horse cart driving, pony treasure hunt and much more…No previous horse experience required.

Facilitator: Selvi Iyilikci (Qualified Equine Assisted Learning Facilitator)

 

10 – 4 pm

Cost: €80 (lunch, tea/coffeeincluded) discounts available if you bring your family.

Venue: The Hollies Centre

Tutor: Thomas Riedmuller

To book please  click here.

with group-e

This full day course offers you practical exercises and time for reflection to help you learn new ways of communicating, de-escalating conflicts and creating more harmonious relationships.

It will include skills such as Non-Violent Communication (Rosenberg) and family conference (Gordon). It is helpful for negotiating boundaries, organising home life, and increasing lightness and fun in spite of problems. You can attend on your own or bring your partner and/or teenagers along.

Thomas Riedmuller facilitates learning from the experiences of other course participants as well as from himself. 

Exclusive workshops for your family alone can be arranged outside of these dates. 

house and arch

10.00 am- 4.30 pm

Cost: €80, includes a wild food lunch.

To book please  click here.

Food foraging is a powerful way to re-awaken your senses, to re-connect with nature in a powerful way, giving us a deep appreciation of the land and our place in the natural cycles and rhythms of life.

From seaweeds and coastal plants to fields, hedgerow and gardens -you’ll be learning to recognise the right plants and experiencing tasty ways to prepare and eat them.
We will be picking prime ingredients full of interesting flavours, packed with natural goodness.

We’ll also show you how to use specific plant identification books in order to deepen your learning and point out which plants are poisonous. You’ll also learn about some medicinal uses.

house and arch house and arch

This course is mainly outdoors. If the weather forecast is particularly wet for the day we’ll postpone it and arrange an alternative day. To collect seaweed we’ll be walking between rocks at low tide.

Booking is essential, as we need to give you directions.

This course will inspire you to continue your path of food foraging.

To book a place click here

Hands-on ‘ know-how- to’ workshop to get started growing your own veg.

Sunday mornings

Time: 10 – 2 pm

Cost: €60, tea/coffee/light snacks included

Facilitators: Selvi Iyilikci & John Conway

To book please  click here.

This practical workshop will get you started on transforming some of your garden into a productive vegetable growing space. We start with exploring different methods of making beds, using mulching techniques or lazy beds with an emphasis on no-dig.

Permaculture perspectives and techniques will be demonstrated and discussed throughout the day with an emphasis on creating a wildlife friendly space. Skills such as growing plants from start to finish such as seed sowing in trays, transplanting, maintaining and harvesting a variety of easy to grow vegetables will be demonstrated. Other topics include garden design, soil fertility, planting times and pest & disease control.

To book a place click here

IMG_2224-e

10:00am – 5pm

Cost: €80 (Lunch included)

To book please  click here.

This course is a hands-on introduction to cob-building. If you’ve heard about cob and want to find out whether cob is something you’d like to build your house (or other structures) with, this course will give you a clear idea of what’s involved, an enjoyable first experience and loads of valuable information.

You will learn about the specific properties of cob, how to find suitable materials, mix cob and build walls and sculptural details with the material you’ve produced. You will also be able to see and experience the wide range of cob structures here at the Hollies.

Time: 10 – 4pm

Cost: €80, lunch included

Facilitator: Selvi Iyilikci

To book please  click here.

Have you heard of Equine Assisted Learning?
It is a recognised and innovative approach that promotes the development of life skills for educational, professional and personal goals through equine-assisted activities. Through interactions with the horses, participants learn a heightened self-awareness. It is a process where people work with horses to develop their emotional growth, personal awareness, relationships, and trust, e.g. boundary setting, team work, communication and problem solving.

This is an introduction/taster workshop in which participants will experience first hand the positive effects of Equine Assisted Learning (EAL). We will cover areas such as:
• Some of the principles and theoretical foundations of EAL as an evidence based practice
• Who can benefit and how?
• The horse as co facilitator: Horse behavior, horse handling and horse use ethics
• What activities can we engage in?
• The importance of observation and feedback

This method does NOT involve horse riding and does not require any experience in horsemanship.

May

  • A series of events at The Hollies Centre for Sustainability to help you tune into the healing power of nature.

 7:30-10 pm Bealtaine                                                                                

These days carry a particular energy in the natural rhythm of the year and offer specific opportunities for feeling connected.

Cost: voluntary donation

More opportunities for walking our labyrinth will be offered for special events that can be booked by e-mailing us
info (at) thehollies.ie
or by phone 023 8847001

Children aged 7-9 years
Groups of 4 children max.
All 4 days must be booked together. Cost: 100 euro per child
 
MORE INFO & BOOKING directly with Selvi , selvinina@gmail.com
 

Join the Pony Tribe to learn about horses, yourself and other children and make friends with the Hollies Equine Team: Luna, Gary and Podge.

The Hollies Pony Tribe brings children together to promote acceptance of self and others, provide team-building experiences, and encourage self-expression while having fun learning about and interacting with horses. The activities will cover basic horsemanship skills such as leading, grooming, tacking up, groundwork and stable management. There will be horse games, natural horsemanship, horse communication, mindfulness with Luna, horse cart driving, pony treasure hunt and much more…No previous horse experience required.

Facilitator: Selvi Iyilikci (Qualified Equine Assisted Learning Facilitator)

10.00 am- 4.30 pm

Cost: €80, includes a wild food lunch.

To book please click here.

Food foraging is a powerful way to re-awaken your senses, to re-connect with nature in a powerful way, giving us a deep appreciation of the land and our place in the natural cycles and rhythms of life.

From seaweeds and coastal plants to fields, hedgerow and gardens -you’ll be learning to recognise the right plants and experiencing tasty ways to prepare and eat them.
We will be picking prime ingredients full of interesting flavours, packed with natural goodness.

We’ll also show you how to use specific plant identification books in order to deepen your learning and point out which plants are poisonous. You’ll also learn about some medicinal uses.

house and arch house and arch

This course is mainly outdoors. If the weather forecast is particularly wet for the day we’ll postpone it and arrange an alternative day. To collect seaweed we’ll be walking between rocks at low tide.

Booking is essential, as we need to give you directions.

This course will inspire you to continue your path of food foraging.

 

Testimonial:

Had a really lovely day today on a wild food foraging course at @The Hollies! Started with foraging for seaweed at low tide at Simon’s Cove stopping off at Ring, Gaggin and Enniskeane foraging for wild garlic, ground elder, three corner leek, sorrel and other wild delights before heading back to The Hollies centre for lunch prepared with these and other lovely things foraged – soups, quiches, fritters and salads and then heading out for a final walk through the lands of The Hollies digging for Pig Nuts and generally eating our way around the woods and gardens! Learned loads – there really is a world of free food out there! Thanks for a great day!

Kate Ryan, Clonakilty

Please book directly through www. humanature.ie

Email: [email protected]

 

Hands-on ‘ know-how- to’ workshop to get started growing your own veg.

Sunday mornings

Time: 10 – 2 pm

Cost: €60, tea/coffee/light snacks included

Facilitators: Selvi Iyilikci & John Conway

To book please  click here.

This practical workshop will get you started on transforming some of your garden into a productive vegetable growing space. We start with exploring different methods of making beds, using mulching techniques or lazy beds with an emphasis on no-dig.

Permaculture perspectives and techniques will be demonstrated and discussed throughout the day with an emphasis on creating a wildlife friendly space. Skills such as growing plants from start to finish such as seed sowing in trays, transplanting, maintaining and harvesting a variety of easy to grow vegetables will be demonstrated. Other topics include garden design, soil fertility, planting times and pest & disease control.

IMG_2224-e

A 2 day course

Sat/Sun 28/29 May ;

Time: 9:30am- 5pm

Cost: € 150

To book please  click here.

cob oven

For great outdoor fun and the real Italian taste these wood fired Bread and Pizza Ovens built with Cob are hard to beat. Learn how to build your own in just 2 days from firebricks, clay, sand, earth and straw. After this course you’ll be equipped with enough skill to go home and build your own in the garden and cook in it.

These ovens weigh several tons and can usually not be moved. It is, however, possible to build similar ovens on car trailers and make them movable. Generally, an oven like this needs a stone plinth (to keep the clay off the splash water) and a roof. During the 2-day workshop we’ll concentrate on the oven itself. The plinth is built before the workshop. The roof can be built before or after it.

frog clay oven

June

10.00 am- 4.30 pm

Cost: €80, includes a wild food lunch.

To book please  click here.

Food foraging is a powerful way to re-awaken your senses, to re-connect with nature in a powerful way, giving us a deep appreciation of the land and our place in the natural cycles and rhythms of life.

From seaweeds and coastal plants to fields,hedgerow and gardens -you’ll be learning to recognise the right plants and experiencing tasty ways to prepare and eat them.
We will be picking prime ingredients full of interesting flavours, packed with natural goodness.

We’ll also show you how to use specific plant identification books in order to deepen your learning and point out which plants are poisonous. You’ll also learn about some medicinal uses.

house and arch house and arch

This course is mainly outdoors. If the weather forecast is particularly wet for the day we’ll postpone it and arrange an alternative day. To collect seaweed we’ll be walking between rocks at low tide.

Booking is essential, as we need to give you directions.

This course will inspire you to continue your path of food foraging.

To book a place click here

Testimonial:

Had a really lovely day today on a wild food foraging course at @The Hollies! Started with foraging for seaweed at low tide at Simon’s Cove stopping off at Ring, Gaggin and Enniskeane foraging for wild garlic, ground elder, three corner leek, sorrel and other wild delights before heading back to The Hollies centre for lunch prepared with these and other lovely things foraged – soups, quiches, fritters and salads and then heading out for a final walk through the lands of The Hollies digging for Pig Nuts and generally eating our way around the woods and gardens! Learned loads – there really is a world of free food out there! Thanks for a great day!

Kate Ryan, Clonakilty

Cost: € 70, Lunch included

10.30am- 4.30pm

Cost:€80

To book please  click here.

Going for a walk through the weeds we will identify and gather common, easy to find plants that are beneficial to our health and safe to use. We will then use what we’ve found for our medicine making.

In this summer course we will focus on herbs and preparations using the abundance of summer flowers and some other plants. We will make creams and tinctures as well as teas, compresses, poultices and ointments.

 This will enable you to start filling your home medicine cabinet with home made natural products for coughs, colds, digestive problems, skin disorders, fatigue, first aid or simply promoting general health.

The workshops later in the year will focus on some different preparations.

Herbs have been used for promoting health since the dawn of humanity. Our modern society seems to have lost much of the knowledge about those remedies and is pushing us to hand over  the responsibility for our health to the professionals. This course could be a beginning for you in taking care of your and your family’s’ health – while still getting professional help for more serious issues.

July

Time: 10 – 4pm

Cost: 90 euro, lunch included

Facilitator: Selvi Iyilikci

To book please  click here.

Have you heard of Equine Assisted Learning?
It is a recognised and innovative approach that promotes the development of life skills for educational, professional and personal goals through equine-assisted activities. Through interactions with the horses, participants learn a heightened self-awareness. It is a process where people work with horses to develop their emotional growth, personal awareness, relationships, and trust, e.g. boundary setting, team work, communication and problem solving.

This is an introduction/taster workshop in which participants will experience first hand the positive effects of Equine Assisted Learning (EAL). We will cover areas such as:
• Some of the principles and theoretical foundations of EAL as an evidence based practice
• Who can benefit and how?
• The horse as co facilitator: Horse behavior, horse handling and horse use ethics
• What activities can we engage in?
• The importance of observation and feedback

This method does NOT involve horse riding and does not require any experience in horsemanship.

Unfortunately our partners for this year’s Handsculpted House’ course have experienced some difficulties and are now not able to host the course.

We are currently looking into various option, but it is likely that we won’t be able to run this course this year. We’ll keep you updated.

—————————————————————————————-

At the end of the  course you will know all you need to be able to go off and build a cob cottage. This intensive course will be hands-on, and you will learn every aspect of the construction of a cob building. From locating and testing the right kinds of soils for cob, to different ways of mixing it, wall building techniques and all the sculptural details. Get practical experience with windows, doors, arches, niches and roofs. Lectures and practical exercises will cover siting, passive solar design, drainage, heating, plumbing and wiring, basic carpentry, natural roofing, and flooring.

Through the length and intensity of this course it tends to create a real sense of community between the participants and team, so if you are interested in building a house, and want a life-changing inspirational immersion into the world of natural building this really is a course not to be missed.

Concessions for group bookings are possible.

The Hollies team have built several family homes and other buildings with Cob and have been teaching Natural Building with The Cob Cottage Company for many years.

To book a place click here

August

A 2 day course

Time: 9:30am- 5pm

Cost: € 150

To book please  click here.

cob oven

For great outdoor fun and the real Italian taste these wood fired Bread and Pizza Ovens built with Cob are hard to beat. Learn how to build your own in just 2 days from firebricks, clay, sand, earth and straw. After this course you’ll be equipped with enough skill to go home and build your own in the garden and cook in it.

These ovens weigh several tons and can usually not be moved. It is, however, possible to build similar ovens on car trailers and make them movable. Generally, an oven like this needs a stone plinth (to keep the clay off the splash water) and a roof. During the 2-day workshop we’ll concentrate on the oven itself. The plinth is built before the workshop. The roof can be built before or after it.

frog clay oven

September

Time: 10am – 5pm

Cost: €80 (Lunch included)

To book please  click here.

This course is a hands-on introduction to cob-building. If you’ve heard about cob and want to find out whether cob is something you’d like to build your house (or other structures) with, this course will give you a clear idea of what’s involved, an enjoyable first experience and loads of valuable information.

You will learn about the specific properties of cob, how to find suitable materials, mix cob and build walls and sculptural details with the material you’ve produced. You will also be able to see and experience the wide range of cob structures here at the Hollies.

 

Cost: € 80, Lunch included

To book please  click here.

In this autumn course we will focus on herbs and preparations that will help to get us prepare for the winter by boosting our immune function and filling our store cupboard with preparations that will help us get through the winter colds. We will make fermented foods, oximels and syrups, as well as tinctures and teas.

Going for a walk through the weeds we will identify and gather common, easy to find plants that are beneficial to our health and safe to use. We will then use what we’ve found for our medicine making.

 This will enable you to start filling your home medicine cabinet with home made natural products for coughs, colds, digestive problems, skin disorders, fatigue, first aid or simply promoting general health.

The workshops later in the year will focus on some different preparations.

Herbs have been used for promoting health since the dawn of humanity. Our modern society seems to have lost much of the knowledge about those remedies and is pushing us to hand over  the responsibility for our health to the professionals. This course could be a beginning for you in taking care of your and your family’s’ health – while still getting professional help for more serious issues.

Time: 10am – 5pm

Cost: €80 (Lunch included)

To book please  click here.

This course is a hands-on introduction to cob-building. If you’ve heard about cob and want to find out whether cob is something you’d like to build your house (or other structures) with, this course will give you a clear idea of what’s involved, an enjoyable first experience and loads of valuable information.

You will learn about the specific properties of cob, how to find suitable materials, mix cob and build walls and sculptural details with the material you’ve produced. You will also be able to see and experience the wide range of cob structures here at the Hollies.

October

date tbc

10 – 4 pm

Cost: € 80 Venue: The Hollies Centre

Tutor: Thomas Riedmuller

To book please  click here.

with group-e

Learn how to create and maintain harmony in your family and other close relationships. This course will include skills such as Non-Violent Communication and Non-Defensive Communication. It is helpful for negotiating boundaries, organising home life, and increasing lightness and fun in spite of perceived problems.

This full day course offers you practical exercises and time for reflection to help you learn new ways of communicating, de-escalating conflicts and creating more harmonious relationships.

Thomas will facilitate learning from the experiences of other course participants as well as from himself. There will be also be opportunities for deepening the learning through role play as a way of practising these skills in every day life.

November

A series of events at The Hollies Centre for Sustainability to help you tune into the healing power of nature.

These days carry a particular energy in the natural rhythm of the year and offer specific opportunities for feeling connected.

Cost: voluntary donation

More opportunities for walking our labyrinth will be offered for special events that can be booked by e-mailing us
info (at) thehollies.ie
or by phone 023 8847001

Household remedies for common ailments.

Cost: € 80, Lunch included

To book please  click here.

In this winter course we will focus on  preparations made from herbs, spices and foods that are commonly found in a household .

We will explore how they can help us to get through winter colds, digestive upsets, cystitis, aches and pains, minor injuries and more.

We will also head out for a foraging walk to see what medicinal plants are available even in winter.

From cold- bannishing teas to  flu-fighting soup, spice-infused oils and ointments for chilblains, sore muscles and joints, honey preparations for sore throats and other infections, remedies for indigestion and  more.

Herbs have been used for promoting health since the dawn of humanity. Our modern society seems to have lost much of the knowledge about those remedies and is pushing us to hand over  the responsibility for our health to the professionals. This course could be a beginning for you in taking care of your and your family’s’ health – while still getting professional help for more serious issues.

date tbc

Cost: €80

10 – 4 pm

Venue: The Hollies Centre

Tutor: Thomas Riedmuller

To book please  click here.

with group-e

This full day course offers you practical exercises and time for reflection to help you learn new ways of communicating, de-escalating conflicts and creating more harmonious relationships.

It will include skills such as Non-Violent Communication (Rosenberg) and family conference (Gordon). It is helpful for negotiating boundaries, organising home life, and increasing lightness and fun in spite of problems. You can attend on your own or bring your partner and/or teenagers along.

Thomas Riedmuller facilitates learning from the experiences of other course participants as well as from himself. 

Exclusive workshops for your family alone can be arranged outside of these dates.

Interested teenagers can come along on the adult workshops. For families with younger children we recommend to plan this ahead of time for a fine tuned workshop design.

Cost: € 70 pp (lunch, tea/coffee included) discounts available if you bring your family