{"id":3066,"date":"2026-01-27T22:42:55","date_gmt":"2026-01-27T22:42:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/?p=3066"},"modified":"2026-02-10T13:17:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T13:17:37","slug":"capturing-memories-of-the-bog-with-the-mountbellew-mens-shed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/ga\/community-stories\/capturing-memories-of-the-bog-with-the-mountbellew-mens-shed\/","title":{"rendered":"Capturing memories of the bog with the Mountbellew Men\u2019s Shed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">by <strong>Helen Shaw &#8211; T\u00f3char Stories<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A song comes as easy as a story when you sit down with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/100086343170642\/\">Mountbellew Men\u2019s Shed<\/a>, in Co Galway. On the day we met to do some audio recording of oral history, <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/athena-media\/tomas-crehan-mountbellew-mens-shed-galway\">T\u00f3mas Crehan <\/a>came prepared with his guitar and after a few rounds of storytelling he unzipped the case and within minutes he had the gathering in a chorus of&nbsp; <em>An Poc Ar Buile. <\/em>With the recent passing of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rte.ie\/news\/munster\/2026\/0116\/1553478-sean-o-sea\/\">Sean \u00d3 S\u00e9<\/a> &#8211; whose song that is &#8211; it\u2019s lovely to share the men\u2019s warm-hearted rendition of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>To watch the sing song please click  <a href=\"https:\/\/vimeo.com\/1135673414\"><strong>Here <\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Tom\u00e1s has been a member of the Men\u2019s Shed for the last two and a half years and loves the company and the chats. He grew up with music, played in ballrooms, bands and pubs and loves to get a sing-song going.\u00a0 \u201c<em>My father sang and played the tin whistle and my uncle was a good singer. I was fond of music from day one<\/em>\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image2-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Photograph of T\u00f3mas and Katie in the Mountbellew Men\u2019s Shed\" class=\"wp-image-3070\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image2-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image2-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image2-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image2-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image2.jpg 1999w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo: Tom\u00e1s and Katie in the Mountbellew Men\u2019s Shed <br>(photo Helen Shaw)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Listen <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/athena-media\/thomas-crehan-mount-bellew?in=athena-media\/sets\/mountbellew-mens-shed\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/athena-media\/thomas-crehan-mount-bellew?in=athena-media\/sets\/mountbellew-mens-shed\"><strong>Here<\/strong><\/a> to as Tom\u00e1s Crehan shares his own story with Katie Smirnova of T\u00f3char Stories.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Mountbellew Men\u2019s Shed meets twice a week, Tuesday and Thursdays mornings, at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mountbellew.ie\/\">Mountbellew Co-Op Mart <\/a>where they have a workshop and a canteen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.galwayslivingbog.com\/\">The Galway Living Bog<\/a> is just across the courtyard and the beautiful landscape of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.raisedbogs.ie\/about-carrownagappul-bog\/\">Carrownagappul Bog <\/a>is up the road. As Kieran Flanagan, one of the younger members says, it\u2019s an eclectic cross-section of every skill and profession from retired garda, academic, vet, farmer, plumber and publican. Kieran, like some others in the group, became involved in the group when health issues changed his life. The men talk openly about how tough isolation is, how the Men\u2019s Shed is a great antidote to mental stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vincent Flynn is one of the founders and says company and friendship is what the Men\u2019s Shed is all about. He says places in a village where people once met, like the post office, bank, pub or corner shop are often closed and gone. \u201c<em>The most important aspect of our Men\u2019s Shed here is that everybody&#8217;s on an equal footing. There&#8217;s no boss. We come in here and you can chat like we&#8217;re doing today and sing, or you can do some work if you want to, but there&#8217;s no onus on anybody to do anything but to come in and enjoy themselves\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of the men grew up in and around the area and share stories of childhoods captured by work on the bog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tom Kenny was just six when his grandmother and uncle used to take him to the bog when they were working. His father had gone to England for work so, as was often the case then, Tom was sent back to the country to be raised in the family home by his grandmother. \u201c<em>I had a great time there; going down to the bog because they couldn&#8217;t leave me in the house alone<\/em>\u201d, he remembers. <em>\u201cI was fascinated. I had never seen bog up to that, and the wildlife too,&nbsp; there was hare. The bog hare is a different hare. It&#8217;s a mountain hare, red hare. There was the skylark too, who kept soaring up into the sky and chirping away.\u201d<\/em>&nbsp; By the time he was a young boy Tom was going to the bog on his own, managing the donkey and cart and being sent out after school. <em>\u201cWhich was great !<\/em>\u201d he says laughing. \u201c<em> I&#8217;d get away from school\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image3-768x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Photograph of Tom Kenny in the Men\u2019s Shed (Photo Helen Shaw)\" class=\"wp-image-3072\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image3-768x1023.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image3-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image3-1153x1536.jpg 1153w, https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image3.jpg 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo: Tom Kenny in the Men\u2019s Shed (Photo Helen Shaw)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Tom Kenny in the Men\u2019s Shed (Photo Helen Shaw)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Listen <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/athena-media\/tom-kenny-06-1125\" type=\"link\" id=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/athena-media\/tom-kenny-06-1125\">here<\/a><\/strong> to Tom Kenny on the bog words like <em>caor\u00e1ns<\/em> that come from the Irish language<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>You can listen to all the <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/athena-media\/sets\/mountbellew-mens-shed\">Mountbellew Men\u2019s Shed memories, chats, songs and stories on T\u00f3char Stories Soundcloud playlist <strong>here<\/strong> <\/a>and hear local legend <a href=\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/athena-media\/mountbellew_gerry?in=athena-media\/sets\/mountbellew-mens-shed\">Gerry Rushe, on the very first recording, sharing a poem \u2018Changing Times\u2019 that is on display in the Galway Living Bog centre<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>That poem, written by local man the late Patsy Cunningham, captures so much of the changing culture from when men like Tom were children, learning the skill of turf cutting and dodging the <em>caor\u00e1ns <\/em>(little chips of turf used for starting the fire) thrown in jest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image1-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"Photograph of Photo: Mountbellew Men\u2019s Shed at the Co-op Mart, where the men meet twice a week, with Helen Shaw, T\u00f3char Stories\" class=\"wp-image-3068\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image1-1536x1153.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image1.jpg 1999w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo: Mountbellew Men\u2019s Shed at the Co-op Mart, where the men meet twice a week, with Helen Shaw, T\u00f3char Stories (Photo Katie Smirnova).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/tocharstories\/\">T\u00f3char Stories<\/a> is a community engagement and storytelling strand under T\u00f3char Wetlands Restoration, an initiative co-funded by the Irish Government and the European Union through the Just Transition Fund in Ireland. T\u00f3char Stories has been working with the <a href=\"https:\/\/menssheds.ie\/sheds\/mountbellew-mens-shed\/\">Mountbellew Men\u2019s Shed<\/a> across the last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"565\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image4-1024x565.jpg\" alt=\"Photograph of Mountbellew Men\u2019s Shed and Helen Shaw, T\u00f3char Stories at their first meeting in February 2025 with Gerry Rushe in white shirt in front row and Tom Kenny behind him. \" class=\"wp-image-3074\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image4-1024x565.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image4-300x165.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image4-768x423.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image4-1536x847.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.tocharwetlands.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/image4.jpg 1999w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Photo: Mountbellew Men\u2019s Shed and Helen Shaw, T\u00f3char Stories at their first meeting in February 2025 with Gerry Rushe in white shirt in front row and Tom Kenny behind him. ( photo Kate Flood)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by Helen Shaw &#8211; T\u00f3char Stories A song comes as easy as a story when you sit down with the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3076,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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