Athy's Women Shed

Lunchtime on Thursday gave me an opportunity to visit local exhibitions by two talented artists whose work has benefited from grants provided by Kildare County Council under the Council’s Heritage Scheme and the Creative Arts Scheme. My first port of call was to the local library to see Marie Hopkins’ depiction of five element of Athy’s built heritage. Marie has created in acrylic a unique display showing the Town Hall, the Courthouse, the Methodist Church, Whites Castle and the former Dominican Church, now our town library. Her work highlighted what I imagine would generally be accepted by many as architecturally the more important buildings in Athy. We pass them by every day, seldom, if ever, giving a thought to the workmanship of the masons of past years whose talents and skills are mirrored in the buildings they built. My next visit was to Athy Arts Centre located in the town’s Methodist Church, which is one of the buildings captured in Marie Hopkins’ earlier mentioned exhibition. I was expecting to review the paintings produced by participants in the Brigid 1500 Art Project which was led by local artist Cathy Callan. Cathy is one of several superb artists living and working in the South Kildare area. On arrival in the Arts Centre I was met not only by the work of the Brigid 1500 Art Project participants as well as several excellent pictures by Cathy herself, but also by the sight and sounds of a Christmas fair organised by Athy Women’s Shed group. The tables were choc a bloc with Christmassy fare, but my attention was diverted to a discussion taking place in the centre/church led by Eilish Langton, Creative Art Organiser. On stage was the artist Cathy Callan taking questions about her art, during which she explained how in good weather she likes to paint outside as drawing and painting directly from life are experiences she treasures. The jolly women in the former classroom of the Methodist Church were enjoying themselves as they manned their Christmas stalls. I decided there and then to write of the Women’s Shed in this week’s Eye and asked if some background information could be emailed to me. Low and behold within a few hours Breda Gavagan, Chairperson of Athy’s Women’s Shed, sent me an extensive note and it is from here that I give over this week’s Eye to Breda Gavagan and her group. ‘The Athy Women's Shed was founded with just five members in February 2022 in a community house in Townspark. The goal of the shed is to reduce isolation among women. especially after Covid. It provides a safe, inclusive space for women to learn and connect through sharing stories, experiences and knowledge. There are currently 40 members, the shed operates on a Tuesday morning for 3 hours (11am-2pm). Members come from Athy and the surrounding areas, some come from as far afield as Carlow and Kildare town. The membership is currently closed. Activities include creative arts and crafts projects, horticulture, healthy food made easy cookery classes, jewellery making classes, ceramics, basket weaving, dragon boating, walking club, aqua aerobics, and women's health demonstrations and talks. The Chill Out Choir is also part of the Women Shed and they sing coming up to Christmas in Cloverlodge Nursing Home, St. Vincents Day Care Centre, Whitewater Shopping Centre Newbridge, etc. We collaborate with other groups such as Creative Places Athy for art projects, the community education programme, Kildare Sports Partnership and the Athy Alternative Project. Since we started, we have packed in a lot, we participated in two St. Patrick’s Day Parades, a Bring and Share for International Women’s Day, and two Dragon boat days on the River Barrow, one of which was with the Naas Men’s Shed, a Breast Cancer Awareness talk, two trips to Bloom in the Phoenix Park and the Shackleton Needs a New Hat project, which raised funds for the Athy Family Resource Centre. We visited the Dail which was organised through Senator Mark Wall and the Seanad, which was recorded on the minutes of the Seanad, which will forever be in the history of Ireland. Four committee members met President Michael Higgins and his wife Sabina at a Garden Party in Áras an Uachtaráin, organised for individuals who have dedicated their lives to make a positive impact in their communities. We have given back to the community by donating knitted blankets to St. Vincent’s Hospital Athy and St. Brigid's Hospice in the Curragh. We did a Fundraising day for the Ukraine Appeal with The Irish Red Cross. For our mental health and well-being, we have run Yoga workshops with Margareta Kal and Sound Healing and meditation with Kiera Geoghan. We have done a boat trip in Kilkenny with Cliff Reid, a tour of Kilkenny Castle, the Shackleton Museum tour, the Military Museum tour in the Curragh, a tour of the Natural History Museum and the National Gallery of Ireland, both in Dublin, and historical walks around Athy town. We participated in the Healthy Eating course run by Healthy Ireland. We collaborated with several artists such as Cathy Callan, Claire Murphy, Nasrim Golden and Orla Mc Donagh on projects. We have created our manifesto with artist Nasrim Golden and some of our art with Cathy Callan was displayed at Electric Picnic. We participated in our first event with the Kildare yarn bombers during the June Fest in Newbridge. We participated in the Brigid 1500 project with artist Cathy Callan, a year-long project that ended with an exhibition which is currently on view in the Athy Community Arts Centre.’ The members of the Women’s Shed are to be congratulated for their impressive work in encouraging the exchange of experiences, knowledge and friendship.