Post by Drummin Bog Committee member and community artist Jules Michael, 17 December 2024.
We were delighted to complete the Bog Rosemary Song earlier this year with St. Brendan’s National School, Drummond, south Carlow, the song’s composer Carole Nelson, and the school’s pupils.
[See Full Page Version of Film and Larger Photos here]
The beautiful film about the Bog Rosemary Song created by
Patrick Bramley, ULAB Studios, Carlow
Funded by Creative Ireland Carlow, the Bog Rosemary Song for Drummin Bog came out of the preceding An Fraughan project also funded by Creative Ireland.
Playing with the Biodiversity Jenga the pupils of St Brendan’s National School made. Photo: Jules Michael
During the earlier project, I had devised a Biodiversity Jenga with the children. Partially to find a fun way for them to learn the different names of the plants and wildlife on Drummin Bog, but also to highlight that we are all interlinked together – not just people – but also the plants and wildlife we live amongst.
Each pupil had chosen an animal, plant, or insect to ‘become’ for the duration of An Fraughan, and for their individual Jenga blocks each had drawn their name, their non-human self, and written “I am raft spider”, or sphagnum moss etc.
Playing a “We are all interlinked” game with the Senior classroom, St. Brendan’s N.S. 2024 Photo: Jules Michael
Carole Nelson, our composer, took these lines and incorporated them into the Bog Rosemary Song.
Initially, we had first visited Drummond N.S. to work with the pupils on the song shortly before COVID. In the subsequent aligning of schedules, it took this long to return to the school to complete the song, and the students who had been in the younger classes were now Seniors.
In 2024, there was something beautiful about revisiting the song with them and hearing them share their memories of their earlier visits to Drummin Bog and An Fraughan.
To give the children context before Carole Nelson, our composer, revisited the school in May 2024, I spent time in the school with the children discussing what a raised bog is, making drawings with them and playing games to connect them to ideas behind the Bog Rosemary Song.
Making art about Drummin Bog and the special “bog builder” plant of sphagnum moss. Photos: Jules Michael
Carole came in and we worked with the pupils on the song, and the teachers also gave huge support in practising it with the children before all meeting on Drummin Bog in May 2024 to sing the song to the bog itself.
We were delighted that Patrick Bramley filmed the day with pupils singing the Bog Rosemary song, and some of the Drummin Bog Project committee joined us. May 2024.
Enjoy the Gallery of Photos below of pupils practising the Bog Rosemary Song for Drummin Bog, May 2024
Practising at St Brendan’s National School, Drummond, before singing on Drummin Bog, May 2024.
Work for the Bog Rosemary Song began in 2020
See below for photos of our initial visits to St. Brendan’s N.S. to learn the song with Carole and the children in 2020. Photos with thanks to Cathy Fitzgerald.
Special Thanks to:
The Drummin Bog Project Committee for their support. Thanks also to Cathy Fitzgerald of the Drummin Bog Committee for ecoliteracy advice and for sharing the late pioneering ecological artists Helen and Newton Harrison‘s provocation – ‘Who Else Lives Here?’ for increasing interconnected ecological understanding.
The parents of the children for helping with transport to Drummin Bog for our singing day, and to the St. Brendan’s N.S. school principal Aoife Kavanagh and the school staff for their huge generosity to the Bog Rosemary Song throughout.
Carole Nelson, for the commitment and fun she brought to the project.
The children for making this all possible.
This project has been kindly supported by Creative Ireland Carlow.
A special thank you to the Carlow Arts Officer, Sinead Dowling and Creative Ireland Carlow Coordinator, Aileen Nolan for their huge support throughout.
PLEASE NOTE: Access to Drummin Bog is limited due to the sensitive nature of the habitat and its status as a wildlife reserve. Great precaution must be taken in visiting the bog due to its unmarked deep drains, and other hazards. It is therefore recommended people do not walk on the bog alone. Children must always be supervised and no dogs please as efforts are in place to encourage birds to return. Thank you for understanding. In time, a woodland walkway is envisaged. The Drummin Bog Project is in its very early stages.
Support Drummin Bog: Get Involved or Sponsor a Patch of Drummin Bog for 2025.
All support is greatly appreciated.
Drummin Bog Project?
Join the voluntary committee? People with diverse skills and knowledge are welcome. To find out more, please contact Martin Lyttle, Vice Chair of Drummin Bog Project at lyttlemartin@gmail.com
The County Carlow Drummin Bog Project is a non-profit community eco-social programme.
. 