Cork school sees months of work bloom brightly in new garden

“WE want the students to embrace nature and outdoor life,” said Blarney Street CBS teacher Grainne Tuohy, after the Cork City primary school officially opened their new school garden.

A large crowd gathered in the sunshine for the official opening of the new school garden said Ms Tuohy, who is also a sustainability co-ordinator in the school.

“Our new school garden is called Ériú which comes from Irish mythology. She was a goddess of abundance. There was a brilliant atmosphere. The sun was shining and the ice cream truck showed up.

“We had staff, and parents who had been involved they were invited as special guests, and the carpenter Daniel O’Shea was there. We also had members from the board of management and the MD of Cygnum [the timber frame processing company] John Desmond,” she said.

Ms Tuohy said a number of people drove the project on since the concept was initiated.

“The project has been ongoing for months. I was behind the idea but it was a parent of a child in the school Daniel O’Shea, who brought it to life. He did trojan work between carpentry, construction design, and engineering. There have been a number of people involved in the project.

“Our caretaker Warlito Boncayao along with staff and parents also did a lot of work. It is an unbelievable finish. It has exceeded all of our expectations.”

The primary school teacher said funding for the new school garden was provided from a number of sources. “The board of management gave it the go-ahead and released funding to create it. We had sponsorship from Cygnum and we also got a grant from Cork City Council wastewater prevention. We also got donations from the community including Green Spaces for Health.”

Ms Tuohy said the new garden will increase biodiversity and will prove very beneficial for their students.

“It is a garden that has reclaimed an unusable space of the yard. It has a vegetable garden, a flower garden, and a water feature. It also has an outdoor classroom which will be shared amongst the whole school and the staff. The aim is to expose the children to nature and to give them a sense of wonder and appreciation and let that trickle into their homes.

“They will be sowing from seed and planting vegetables. Classes will harvest them and they will use them to make food. It is all about sustainability. The outdoor space will be used for workshops. We are trying to increase biodiversity and teach the kids how things grow and the origins of food,” she added.

“It is something we have invested in for the future of the school, the students, and the staff,” said Ms Tuohy.

“We are also harvesting our rainwater, but this has not gathered much in the last few weeks. Long term it will be great for the school.”