Today Sinead talks with previous guest Alexandra Derwen who is a death doula and trainer, they describe themselves as a griefkeeper and weaver of words, an explainer of things, a servant of ceremony (not a master) and a student of Death itself. Sinead also introduces you to new guest Tanya Bryan, who is a Humanistic Integrative Psychotherapist and who supports people to reconnect with their own true nature and to come to terms with their limitations. This includes preparing for the end of life (practical and emotional process), managing crises, and questioning all that is.
Alexandra and Tanya have put together and will facilitate this November at The Song House – a long weekend gathering called – Lost Rites – The Community of Grief – which holds as its premise “that Grief itself is a force for community cohesion and repair’’. Click on links below for more info –

Lost Rites and the Community of Grief – The Song House

A Time to Gather – Therapeutic Adjustment tools for Death, Loss and the Mystical

www.derwenroots.com

In this podcast, Sinead talks with two previous podcast guests – deep ecologist, writer and facilitator Jenny O’Hare and grief and mens worker, mentor and facilitator Niall Graham. This is another deep dive convo into the subject of Belonging. Niall and Jenny have teamed up and have designed and will facilitate a weekend enquiry into this very important theme of Belonging – see link below for more info on that. What does it mean to belong, to self, to other, to the land and living world and to our lives? As Jenny says – this is the realm of the soul and in this chat they both speak so deeply and insightfully about many of the themes associated with this oceanic and crucially important theme of Belonging. Enjoy.

Belonging – a Journey of Enquiry – The Song House
https://linktr.ee/JennyOHare
Niall Graham

Joanie has studied women’s story and song traditions for many years and has supported hundreds of women through the life-transition of pregnancy and birth. She has trained as a birth educator, midwife, shamanic practitioner, circle facilitator, and is currently studying ancestral song and story lines with Leah Song from Rising Appalachia.
Joanie is coming to The Song House in September to share with us a taste of the work she does in her most recent ground breaking project called The Shame The Light which she talks more about here and you’ll find more info on that on her website linked below. We are gifted with some music from Joanie who bewitches us with her sound the way she arrangements and how she uses her voice, rhythm, story and depth is utterly unique experience for the listener. She encourages us to sing along and to sing full stop! Joanie tells us of her Persian roots, her most recent release of songs which are a mishmash of songs written and recorded 20 years ago and her current established practice of land born songs, she tells us in song and words the fascinating stories around Maggie Dickson – a well-known Edenborough historical figure who was sentenced to the gallows for then crime of concealing her pregnancy, she teaches us about the Jewish diaspora, her calling to the drum from middle eastern roots and so much more. I encourage you to check out her music and her website below for more info and also, check out the Singing Womens Lives event planned for the Song House this September and as always, kick back relax and enjoy..

Singing Women’s Lives retreat at The Song House 15th – 18th September 2022

Joanies Website

Joanies Music on Bandcamp

A new kind of faith for the 21st century in relation to the forces of the unseen, and that is just one drop of the deep waters that we touch upon in this conversation with a previous guest, Alexandra grace Derwen. This is a deeply, thoughtfully and characteristically clear conversation with Alexandra about many important things. Such as the importance of listening to dissenting voices in relation to the phenomenon of leadership, the plural truth in the space that can emerge, the importance of our value base in relation to the difference between institutions and change, the link between death and social justice, ancestral patterns of oppression and abuse, the particle and the wave in relation to paradigm shifts and of course woven into all of this is talk of death, dying and grief consciousness – and that is just in the first 40 minutes! There’s so much more, so please, as always, kick back, relax and enjoy listening with these 90 minutes of medicine…

Lost Rites and the Community of Grief – At The Song House

derwenroots.com – Alexandras newly launched website
Sacredcirclecic  on Facebook
Books & Links
Atonevoice instagram
Derwen, Explainer of Things
SacredCircleLove on Instagram

Sineads guest today is Margaret/Maggie Hannon – an actor and theatre maker originally from Cork and now living and working in Donegal. Maggie resigned in 2015 as a medical doctor to take a Masters in Authorial acting in the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague where she graduated with honours in 2018. Since then, she is working as a professional actor, coach, theatre maker and writer.

In this conversation Maggie tells us about her journey towards leaving the medical profession and becoming a professional actor, her time in Prague – the fellow artists and teachers she me there, the gorgeous and thought-provoking story of Sister Black – one of her own devised works, the importance and potency of the Irish language, her work on Ros Na Run and so so much more! So! As always, enjoy.

Maggie will facilitate a one-day workshop at The Song House on April 30th – find out more and sign up here, No previous acting experience necessary. Full bodied Acting – 1 Day Workshop – The Song House Donegal (thesonghouseireland.com)

Robin Botley and Niall Graham on Mens Work

Sinéad talks with Niall Graham and Robin Botley about mens work specifically and in general about grief work, shadow work, myth, spirit and soul work and so so much more in this deep dive conversation. Niall and Robin work with each other closely, particularly around mens work and together they have designed and will facilitate an Introduction to mens work weekend planned for this March at the song house – which they talk about in more detail as well. See the link below for more info on this event. Robin is married to Candy and if you haven’t already – check out this earlier conversation Sinead had with Robin. Niall’s work is founded around the reimagination of culture through indigenous teachings and his offerings, as well as mens work and grief work, include one to one and group work facilitation and mentoring around soul connection work and most recently around mens sexuality. Niall also offers spaces where both men and women can delve into myth, story, drumming poetry and reflection. Check out his website linked below for more info.

Introduction to Mens Work – The Song House (thesonghouseireland.com)

Niall Graham

In this podcast Sinéad talks with Annemarie Ní Churreáin, a world-renowned, award winning and highly regarded Irish poet, who grew up just a short distance away from the song house here in Falcarragh. Annemarie cites the poets house as a place where she began her writing career – you’ll hear more about this in the conversation to follow which is altogether so interesting, engaging, evocative and good fun and just as you’d expect a conversation with a poet to be. Annemarie for such a young woman has a highly impressive biography as a poet, writer and facilitator – please check out her website –  studiotwentyfive.com to read more about her and her work. 

Her publications include Bloodroot (Doire Press 2017) and most recently The Poison Glen (The Gallery Press 2021) which you’ll hear more from and about in the following podcast.

Email info@thesonghouseireland.com to be added to the in-person retreat wait list
To join us for the poetry video showcase – check out this link https://thesonghouseireland.com/event/story-song-and-other-shenanigans-imbolg/

Michaela Mc Daid is best known in the North West as a mental health educator, devising and delivering wellness courses for countless groups over 25 years. Her interest has always been in empowering people to affect their own health and healing.

As a facilitator, Michaela openly draws on her own lived experience of mental health challenges and healing with nature to bring insight, empathy and wisdom to professional knowledge and skills.

Her flourishing ecotherapy practice is founded on education and experience. Education – why nature is good for us – satisfies the inquiring mind, while Experience – how nature is good for us – honours intuition with the opportunity to feel what is salve for the soul.

In this conversation Michaela delves deep into facilitation, empowerment, nature as therapist, her own story, education, science, being in nature and so so much more. Eco Therapy as a powerful healing modality is at the centre and you will hear Sinead being fascinated again and again throughout. So much gold, insight, practical understandings and perhaps after hearing this conversation – you’ll be inspired to join our The Original Medicine weekend in March/April 2022, designed and led by Michaela, featuring our own Candy who will facilitate some simple & wholesome group singing as part of a potent, educational, experiential and restorative long weekend.

Book a place on The Original Medicine Weekend:  https://thesonghouseireland.com/event/the-original-medicine/

Michaelas website: https://www.michaelamcdaidecotherapy.com/

In this podcast we revisit some of the nuggets of wisdom, understanding, knowledge and insights from previous guest Jenny O Hare – Jenny is a deep ecologist, writer and facilitator – she will facilitate the Sacred Seasons event on November 6^th & 7^th. Here you’ll hear Jenny talk about permaculture, the connection between literature, poetry, philosophy and deep ecology, about the importance of systems thinking and what it means to, and crucially HOW to, live in right relationship with our natural selves the natural living world around us, its cycles and rhythms. She talks about the Celtic wheel of the year and how marking and celebrating these times can nourish us in significant and powerful ways, and to go a step further, Jenny introduces us to biodynamic farming practices which is a next level cyclical intimacy with the cycles of not just this planet but also with the lunar cycle and stars and in characteristic Jenny style – she brings it all back down to earth and makes it all make perfect understandable sense. Enjoy – Jenny O’Hare