Overview of our Gardeners and their Focus at Clare Garden Festival - PAGE WILL UPDATE SHORTLY

Jim Cronin - FESTIVAL Focus: Organic Gardening

Jim Cronin has been gardening in Co Clare from his early childhood and is now known to many as a leading national expert in organic horticulture. He is a mine of information and advice on all aspects of growing organically, with a lifetime of experience and a deep love of working in cooperation with nature. Jim is also an advocate of local, sustainable agriculture and was a founding member of the thriving Killaloe Farmers Market. He is running successful courses from his farm both for beginners and comprehensive 9-month educational programmes.

Carl Wright - FESTIVAL Focus: Caher Bridge Garden

Carl Wright is the creator & owner of Caher Bridge Garden in The Burren, Co Clare. This award winning garden was begun in 1999 and has been developed in the most inhospitable conditions imaginable. With a background in Ecology Carl has designed his garden to fit as sympathetically as possible into it's surrounding landscape, both on an ecological and visual level. An avid plant collector, the garden is now home to several notable plant collections, which include Ferns, primulas, hostas. mahonia, galanthus, geum, bergenia, & hydrangea. The garden has featured in many publications, magazines & books. Carl is a regular speaker throughout Ireland & the UK on various wildlife and horticultural subjects, and is also a regular contributor to various horticultural publications. Learn more HERE. 

Sinead Moloney - FESTIVAL Focus: Gardens & Herbs

Heritage Horticulturist & Herbalist at Bunratty Castle Garden, 25 Years of Living History - Sinéad bridges the gap between the botanical archives of the past and the ecological needs of the present. As a specialist in heritage plants and historical gardens. Beyond the aesthetics of a parterre or the structure of an espalier, Sinéad’s work is deeply rooted in traditional herbal medicine. The rhythm of Sinéad s life is set by the seasons and shared with loyal companions. accompanied by a pair of wolf hounds through the castle estate, her connection to nature and all animals informs a practical, compassionate approach to land management. They understand that a true garden is a multi-species sanctuary—a place where history, medicine, and animal life thrive in a delicate, beautiful balance.

Jason McCormack - FESTIVAL Focus: Food producing trees - Benefactor of our 2026 Programme for Specialist Nurseries

Jason began working in organic horticulture and agriculture in 2014. He has worked for organisations across Ireland focused on food security and sustainability, including the Irish Seed Savers Association, Balinroan Organic Farm and Síolta Croí. He has completed extensive training, earning qualifications from an Organic Farming Diploma to a Master of Science in Organic Farming (Level 9). His research thesis focused on establishing organic native tree nurseries from the remnants of Ireland’s semi-natural woodland.

The motivation for founding Foodtree came through Jason and his friend Briain Walsh after the passing of Andi Wilson the legendary pioneer who set up Fruit and Nut.ie, their ethos is driven by the belief that Ireland must strengthen its food resilience: “As an island, we are highly vulnerable, relying on imported food for around 90% of our needs. Let’s continue the pioneering work of those before us and give future generations a better chance by actively creating perennial fruit and nut trees and resilient ecosystems — rather than depending on short-sighted economic systems that do not serve our long-term interests.”

Website - foodtree.ie Instagram handle - foodtree.ie

Fergal Smith - FESTIVAL Focus: Sustainable Growing

Fergal Smith is an organic farmer and educator at Moy Hill Farm, advocating locally-conscious and diversified agriculture. Working on commercial vegetable gardens since childhood, Fergal is dedicated to sustainable agricultural systems, which includes supporting the next generation of farmers.

Moy Hill Farm was established in 2013, and for the last eight years, Fergal has been facilitating internships and on-site trainings in regenerative agriculture, agri-forestry systems, Korean Natural Farming and no-dig gardening techniques. 

Fergal studied under international regenerative agriculture experts: Nicole Masters, Richard Perkins and Allan Savory; completing each of their holistic management course programmes. Fergal is a director and co-founder of Talamh Beo. Talamh Beo is a membership-based Irish farming organisation that is working to improve regional agricultural systems and food sovereignty. www.moyhillfarm.com

Jason Horner - FESTIVAL Focus: Organic Gardening

Jason Horner was a commercial organic vegetable grower for 30 years until he retired in 2020. A founding member of the Organic Growers of Ireland and Ennis Farmers' Market, he was also served on the board for Irish Seed Savers several years. He is currently involved in a seed saving project and growing his own vegetables. 

Gert Stam - FESTIVAL Focus: Hardy Herbacious Perennials

Gert Stam and his wife Elisabeth are the owners of Caherhurley Nursery. Both qualified horticulturalists, they have over 50 years of experience in gardening both in The Netherlands and in Ireland. Their nursery is part of their farm situated in the foothills of Slieve Berneagh in East Clare. They believe in the small-scale production of plants and Caherhurley Nursery is a small family-run enterprise.

They are not in this business for money, but because they want to share our passion for great plants with Ireland's gardeners. After five years of dealing with his medical issues, Grower Gert survived and wanted to do something useful for the gardening community in Ireland. He found that he was still capable of some physical work; after all there is no stopping an old grower. In the last few years, for the first time, Caherhurley Nursery was honoured by a visit of a large number of Ireland's gardeners.

Hayley Connelly, is their hands-on horticultural trainee, helping Gert and Elisabeth this year at Caherhurley Nursery. More info from www.caherhurleynursery.com

Jo Newton - FESTIVAL Focus: Talks Host & Organic Gardening

For over 25 years Jo has lived in Co. Clare, off the mains grid, on a little oasis of self- planted woodland and orchard, bogland and wild riverside, alongside productive organic gardens. This is all managed as sustainably as possible. For 20 of these years she worked with the Irish Seed Savers, co-ordinating the growing, harvesting, threshing and saving of seed of over 200 different crops of vegetable, grain and flowers each and every year. The best way of showing a self-sustaining lifestyle is to live it, leaving biodiversity, natural beauty and abundance for our descendants.  Since 2022, Jo has been exploring new and exciting gardening paths.

Vick Ind - FESTIVAL Focus: Ornamentals - Benefactor of our 2025 Programme for Specialist Nurseries

Based in Co Waterford, Vick runs Individual Plants nursery. She takes pride in propagating all her stock on-site from seed which she sources from responsible collectors around the globe, or cuttings taken from her own stock plants (or generous donors). She grows peat-free, using organic principles to produce well grown, resilient and healthy plants. She specialises in quirky, rare and unusual, drought tolerant, med-climate species but is building and diversifying her plant selection all the time. More info about Vick and Individual Plants Nursery, here.