Traditional Skill Days for Clare Community Groups
Is there a stone wall in your area that needs repair or extending? A community garden that could benefit from benches, habitat features, or fences? Or maybe your group would like to build confidence using hand tools to improve shared spaces together.
If so, register your Clare community group or organisation for free Traditional Skills Training Days, fully funded through LEADER and delivered by Common Knowledge on behalf of Clare Local Development Company.
These Traditional Skills Training Days are for communities who want to get practical, learn by doing, and apply useful skills back home for real and lasting benefit.
Supporting Clare Communities
This programme is designed to build practical traditional and heritage skills within Clare communities and to support groups to bring those skills back into their own local settings for community benefit. The focus is on skills that are tangible and well suited to volunteer led community projects and meitheals.
Communities applying to take part will be asked to demonstrate a commitment to working with, integrating, or supporting marginalised or disadvantaged communities.
From March 2026 onwards, participating groups will choose a one day, in person workshop at The Common Knowledge Centre near Kilfenora, delivered by experienced tutors and facilitators to support their work together.
Training Days in 2026
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Dry Stone Walling
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Lime Pointing and Plastering
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Hedge Laying
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Food Preservation & Storage
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Community Repair Skills
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Build a Bench
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Habitat Structures
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Willow Garden Structures
Who are these training days for?
This programme is to anyone aged 18 or above who is working for or members of Clare-based community organisations, and social enterprises that are delivering benefit in County Clare and that can demonstrate a commitment to working with, integrating, or supporting marginalised or disadvantaged communities. Participants must live in Clare and be connected to the applying organisation. This can include:
Tidy Towns groups
Community development organisations and CLGs
Men’s, Women’s and Queer Sheds
Residents associations
Environmental and heritage groups
Social enterprises delivering community benefit
Participation is community-led rather than individual. All participants must be resident in County Clare.
Groups do not need prior technical experience. What matters most is a commitment to working collectively and an interest in applying learning locally for community benefit.
Registration link below
What do the training days involve?
Each training day is delivered at The Common Knowledge Centre.
Each workshop is designed to be:
Practical and hands on
Accessible to people with a range of experience levels
Suitable for use in community settings
Achievable with modest tools and volunteer effort
Community organisations may register interest for multiple workshops and can nominate between three and six participants per workshop, subject to availability.
All workshops are fully funded through LEADER. There is no cost to participate. Expert tuition and facilitation including all tools required are provided, along with lunch and refreshments during the training day, and carpool coordination and access supports where possible
How it works
Applications are made on behalf of your community organisation
Once registered and qualified, you can apply for up to 5 members of your community to join a specific training weekend at a time that suits.
Places are limited and will be offered on a first-come basis to eligible registered groups/organisation in early March
Training Days will commence from mid-March
“Traditional skills are part of Clare’s identity, but they are also part of our future. Through LEADER funding, we are empowering communities to preserve heritage while applying these skills to modern challenges such as climate action, repair, and sustainable living. This programme will create lasting value building confidence, connection, and capacity within communities right across the county”
Siobhan Normoyle
LEADER Coordinator, Clare Local Development Company
Skills that will be covered across Training Days
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This one day workshop introduces the core principles of dry stone walling, including stone selection, foundation preparation, batter, bonding, and finishing. Participants will gain an understanding of traditional techniques and good practice, with a strong emphasis on stability, durability, and working safely with stone.
How this skill could be used in your community
This skill could be used to build or repair boundary walls, planters, seating features, or simple gateways in shared community spaces, gardens, village greens, or public areas.
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A practical, hands on introduction to using, sharing, and maintaining essential hand tools commonly used in community projects. The day covers safe use, basic maintenance, sharpening, storage, and organising tools for shared access.
How this skill could be used in your community
This skill could be used to support practical build days, garden and allotment projects, small repairs and maintenance, or shared builds such as benches, planters, sheds, signage, habitat structures, repair cafés, and local skill sharing sessions.
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This one day course introduces traditional lime pointing for stone walls, including lime types, mixes, preparation, application, and curing. Participants will learn why lime is used in historic and vernacular buildings and how to carry out small scale repairs appropriately.
How this skill could be used in your community
This skill could be used for the repair and maintenance of stone walls and small heritage structures in villages, graveyards, community lands, or historic sites.
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A hands on introduction to traditional lime plaster finishes, including preparation, application techniques, and care. The focus is on understanding breathable materials and how lime plaster supports healthy, long lasting buildings.
How this skill could be used in your community
This skill could be used to repair internal walls or sheltered external surfaces in community buildings such as halls, meeting spaces, sheds, or heritage properties.
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This one day workshop introduces traditional hedge laying techniques, delivered in season. Participants will learn how to rejuvenate hedges to create strong, living boundaries that support wildlife and landscape resilience.
How this skill could be used in your community
This skill could be used to restore living boundaries, strengthen biodiversity corridors, improve roadside or field boundaries, and support long term landscape management.
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A practical course exploring traditional methods of food preservation, such as fermentation, pickling, drying, and safe storage. The day focuses on simple, accessible techniques suitable for group settings.
How this skill could be used in your community
This skill could be used to support community harvest days, shared kitchens, food growing projects, and local food resilience or skill sharing initiatives.
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An introduction to basic repair skills, tool maintenance, and sharpening, with a focus on confidence building and practical problem solving. Participants will learn how to assess repairs and maintain commonly used equipment.
How this skill could be used in your community
This skill could be used to support repair cafés, maintain shared tools, extend the life of community equipment, and reduce waste through repair and reuse.
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A one day practical build focused on constructing a simple timber bench using heritage joinery techniques. Participants will work together to complete a functional piece from start to finish.
How this skill could be used in your community
This skill could be used to create seating for community gardens, halls, trails, green spaces, or shared outdoor areas.
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A hands on build day focused on creating habitat structures such as bird boxes, bat boxes, insect hotels, or bird tables. The workshop includes guidance on appropriate design and placement.
How this skill could be used in your community
This skill could be used to install wildlife habitats in parks, gardens, schools, housing estates, or other shared community spaces.
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A practical workshop introducing the use of willow to create arches, borders, low fences, and plant supports. Participants will learn basic weaving and shaping techniques using living materials.
How this skill could be used in your community
This skill could be used to create structures for community gardens, allotments, growing projects, and shared outdoor spaces.
““Traditional skills teach us how to work carefully with what is around us. We’re excited to support local communities to learn practical, useful and heritage based skills that help them look after shared places, improve local biodiversity, and engage in climate action in a hands on way.””
Brendan Wall
Skillsharing Coordinator, Common Knowledge
How registration works
Register on behalf of your community group/organisation by February 27th and tell us your preferred area of training.
Registration is used to confirm eligibility and understand demand across County Clare. It is not a competitive application process. Places are limited and will be offered on a first-come basis to eligible organisations
Once registration closes, eligible organisations will be invited to book onto available workshop dates on a first come, first served basis from early March.
