Living off the grid in harmony with nature in Munster, Ireland

Details

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  Description

  We are a small group of people living off the grid on a 10 acre piece of land. It is surrounded by the mountains of West Cork. Our core belief system is to live as simply as possible, whilst bettering the space for the people now & in the future.
  
  
  
There are different kinds of areas at various heights. Woodland areas, bog land bits and various types of little fields and gardens. We separated the land in areas for living, for gardening, just for nature and there is also a section for guests and activities. The Gougane Barra National Park and the Lee Valley with the beautiful chain of lakes forming Lough Allua are close by. This is a very rural mountainous area and the nearest village is about 5 km away. The distance to the west coast is about 25 km.


  
  History, Philosophy, Life and Plans:

  We are inspired by people who live and work in harmony with nature. Being more healthy and happy. We would like to share and enjoy this land and this beautiful area with other people in a scattered community setting with sense for individuality and privacy. The vision is to create a circle of people with the same essentials in life and based on the benefit from each other on various levels. To us this lifestyle is perfect to reveal our potentials.

We are in an early stages of a community set up. At the moment there is space for more people & families. Eventually we also want to inspire like-minded people to settle down on some other potential locations close by to create a larger scale of community and a local support system of each other. 


  
  Since we are living permanently here we are getting more back in return. This growing strong connection to the land is very inspiring and we are gaining new ideas for the present and future. Every year developing the land and the infrastructure is transforming it more and more into the land of our dreams.
  
  
An ongoing project is to bring the Irish native plants back in place as much as possible. That includes planting native trees, bushes and herbs as well as creating herb and medicinal gardens and taking care of the plants that are already present on the land.
  
  
Volunteer Accommodation, Facilities and more:


  
  We are in the process of building an indoor kitchen with functional sinks, seating, gas hob and plenty of food prep space. We have a functional clean compost toilet system, two indoor showers powered by fire, water from a stream (which must be filtered before drinking) and a stone-pool next to a stream on the land.
Your sleeping accommodation will be a yurt or a caravan.


  
  There are a few caravans, wooden roundhouses, tunnel shape constructions and campervans on the land. There is WiFi in the library bus, with a whole range of books & basic electrics to charge your devices. There is no main electricity or main water on the land. We are using solar panels to charge any power-tools and we also have a digger and a dumper at our disposal to help us with the heavy ground and stone work.


  
  Lifestyle in the Summer:

  The weather including daylight and darkness has a big impact on our life in general. We learned to accept and appreciate each kind of condition. Weather is the main aspect to consider every day. Especially gathering and preparing wood and doing the stockpiling is an important part of our routine to secure dry firewood. If there is too much rain we are not working outdoors.
  We have a library bus with books, board games and musical instruments (guitar and bongos).


  We have Canadian canoes and trips on the lakes can be arranged.
  We also have 2 bicycles, which can be used for trips anytime.


  
  Essentials to bring:
  -Head torch
  - waterproof jacket and trousers
  - waterproof boots
  - lighter/matches
  
  
  What are we looking for:


  
  We are mainly looking for people who are approaching a simple life close to nature and with like-minded people around. Therefore gathering experiences, skills, inspirations or already looking for the final place to settle down.

You are more than welcome to involve yourself on various projects and different areas. That could be new ideas or inspirations as much as physical work or other focus areas.
  
We offer the possibility of a permanent stay under the right circumstances. However, the living space now is quite limited, so this process is very selective and we are only looking for people who would reflect our ideology and fit in well with the rest of us.



  
  About us:


  
  Due to a radical shift within the Community recently we are temporary very small in numbers in regards to permanent residents.
  
  Torsten:
  
Born in 1967 in Hamburg, Germany. After many years with different kinds of work, training and studies to me, the most important outcome was to find out more about who I am and what I am looking for in life. An on-going part of my life was always the joy of traveling and being outdoors in nature. After living in different alternative settings for many years I was ready to buy and dive into this beautiful piece of land in the mountains of Cork back in 2011. I found a home, where I could live exactly in the way as I am. While creating a new vision of life. To live so close to nature makes me feel more intensive, more creative and curious. There is an ongoing positive influence to my personality and my path of live. My biggest passion on the land was to bring the native Irish plants back in place, restoring nature and slowly learning how to combine that with permaculture. Gathering knowledge and awareness about plants, food and medicine.
 As a result of different personal events in my homeland I moved temporary back to Germany 2020. Nevertheless, my heart and spirit was always remaing on this beautiful piece of land in the mountains of West Cork. And so I always stayed in touch with the community and will return this year.
  
  
  André: 

  All my life I felt like a misfit in modern society. There was always a nagging voice in the back of my head. Language and true history draw me in. Finding the land gave me both a home and freedom, never experienced before. Added to that is the joy of seeing nature grow, hearing birds and the wind when waking up in the morning, feeling the soil and smelling all the scents mother nature provides us with. This year my wish is to reintroduce native medicinal herbs and old heirloom seeds to the land and mid to long
term create more and more of a permaculture setting where nature does what she does best and we can tune in and flow with her.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Instead of concerning ourselves much with the right and wrong within society, our aim here is to create a world we like to live in. By immersing ourselves in nature and tuning into her flow, we wish to connect to our roots as well as create a nurturing space for others who feel the calling to this path.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  The help we need depends from the particular projects, seasons and priorities we are approaching at certain times throughout the year. And so this is just a general overview of potential help for you:
  
  Gardening, Planting, Maintenance, Clearing Areas, Woodwork (Firewood, Construction/Building), Cooking, native plant gathering and planting to restore areas. There is also a variation of potential help on top of this physical areas.

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  Languages spoken

  German: Fluent
  English: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  Yurt, caravan or tent.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Space for parking camper vans

  This host can provide space for campervans.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  We have 1 chicken and a dog.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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