Céad Míle Fáilte, Welcome
Welcome to Voices for Ash, a collaboration project that interweaves the threads of music, songwriting, poetry, photography and film to highlight the role that the creative arts and sport can play in peacemaking, culture regeneration, and the renewal of our ancient reciprocal relationship with Nature.
I’m deeply thankful for all the incredible collaboration that continues to emerge through the song Raise the Ash and the poem Caoimhe’s Mindful Pause. As we say in Irish: Ar scáth na chéile a mhaireann na daoine agus an domhain. We are stronger together.
Raise The Ash – a song uplifting a Celtic spirit that honours the bond between people, land and culture, while highlighting the role sport can play in peacemaking and climate action.
Here in Ireland, we come from a people who have long shared a love for the unique expressions of culture that have been kept alive here for centuries.
One such symbol of our culture is the hurley, the wooden stick used to play our native Irish sporting games – at home and around the world.
The Ash Tree, known to our ancestors as a “Noble of the Wood,” has gifted us her wood to craft our hurley and camogie sticks for generations – possibly since before Cú Chulainn’s time!
However, Ash is now an endangered species worldwide, threatened by Ash dieback disease. It seems we may soon need to source a replacement for the making of our hurleys.
Before we do, we are a growing number of people who want to unite our voices together to offer our appreciation for Ash, not just for all Ash has been giving us for countless generations (like air to breathe, hurleys, musical instruments, shelter for wildlife) – but for who Ash is – a living presence amoung us in our countryside, sacred sites, fields and holy wells.
This is not just a song – it is an invitation. When any great cultural legend amoung us is about to retire – (think the Wolfe Tones!) – us Irish folk would never dream to leave them off without a good send off! We are inviting a similar gesture of appreciation to Ash, in gratitude and respect.
At this time of loss for hundreds of millions of endangered Ash Trees around the world, we feel a call within our hearts – a call to restore peace and reciprocity in our relationship with Nature, and embrace our ancient role as protectors of the earth and lovers of Ireland’s cultural soul.
Song: Raise the Ash
I’ve been honoured to collaborate on this piece with some of Ireland’s gifted artists.
I extend my sincere gratitude to John Broderick for supporting my vision from the early days. John, a prolific songwriter and poet, has penned songs for Delores Keane, Seán Keane, Maedhbh Walsh, Ger O Donnell, Celtic Woman, and many more. I’m humbled and thankful for the opportunity to collaborate with John on the writing of the lyrics for Raise the Ash, alongside PJ Flaherty and James A Walsh.
A heartfelt thank you to the incredibly talented PJ Flaherty for bringing the lyrics to life with his beautiful and catchy melody.
I’m very grateful to James A. Walsh for his brilliant songwriting, production, vocals, and musical artistry. James, your tremendous contributions, and your own passion to raise up local places and people have elevated this work in ways I can never fully express.
My sincere thank you to Eoin Jordan (Guitars and Bouzouki) and Anthony Ruby (Uileann Pipes and Whistles) for their prolific musical gifts, and for the passion and energy they brought to the recording process. Your gifts made this piece even more special!
My heartfelt thanks to Liam Emery, peace be with his spirit, and to Liam’s wife Norma and his family for their kind permission to use this photo of the Emery Cross that my cousin Liam planted with love by hand. Liam’s dedication to his craft are reflected in the forest and Celtic cross pattern he planted with exquisite forestry design planning.
A sincere thank you to Gareth Wray, at Gareth Wray Photography for granting us permission to use this stunning arial photograph of the Emery Celtic Cross titled ‘Autumn Blessings’ which is available to purchase on his website.
Poem: Caoimhe’s Mindful Pause
In 2021 I wrote Caoimhe’s Mindful Pause, and shared it along with presentation slides to our leaders in the GAA headquarters in Dublin, as a creative proposal to present my vision for the role sport can play in peacemaking, culture regeneration, and climate action. I extended an invitation for our GAA leaders to join me in bringing this vision to life together.
I’m very grateful to have been granted an opportunity to collaborate with the GAA’s brilliant Green Clubs Programme, which successfully secured funding from the Irish Department of Agriculture for the planting of 10,000 native trees that I proposed from the outset we apply for to fund the initiative.
It was an honour to introduce two peacemaking initiatives into the Green Clubs Programme’s wider 100,000 native tree planting and growing projects, in a way that aligned with the United Nations’ Resolution of “Harmony with Nature.”
I had the privilege of leading the first ever one-minute silence of gratitude for the Earth and Ash Tree at Connacht GAA Centre of Excellence, honouring Nature’s intrinsic value. Later, at Kerry GAA Centre, we offered the 100,000 native trees as a gesture of reconciliation — a gift to the Earth in acknowledgment of the many Ash Trees we have harvested through the years to make our hurleys. Both peacemaking offerings served as invitations to restore balance, deepen reciprocity, and root our sporting culture more consciously in the living world.
I am thankful to everyone involved in helping to bring this vision to fruition, especially to Jimmy D’arcy, Youth Leadership & Sustainability Manager.
Nelson Mandela said “Sport has the power the change the world. It has the power to inspire, it has the power to unite.”
The GAA Green Clubs show that grassroots care can become cultural leadership. It is a shining example to all sporting organisations on the role sport can play to mobilise our communities in service to peacemaking, climate action, and a more sustainable future for the living Earth and our future generations.