The Growery began as a concept in 2014, by early leader Eimhin Shortt, as ‘Ireland’s first urban food commons’, a voluntary and community supported initiative created to benefit the health and wellbeing of its participants. The Growery was also founded to serve both the local and peer communities through ‘open to all activities’, regenerating a shared outdoor space, growing food, and trialling various partnerships along the way.
The Growery was located until 2024 in the walled garden of Number 1, Oxmantown Mall. Over nearly a 10 year period this space transformed and evolved, at a pace in keeping with daily hard work with hand tools only; early growth was also restricted as the space was not serviced with water or electricity, or accessible to machinery larger than would fit inside a standard sized doorframe, the sites only access point.
The aim of founding members was to develop the Growery to facilitate education and training in small scale horticulture, health and well-being, and localised climate action- whilst ensuring the Growery remained open to all potential members willing to participate in work that was built on a ‘commons’ model. Since 2014 an impressive range of trials, community partnerships, national workshop tours, local community events, television appearances, magazine and paper publications, an online group following, successful education and training programmes, and localised outreach projects have been initiated by the Growery. These initiatives have seen the Growery, both as a food commons and educational space, become firmly established in the social landscape of Birr.
Since 2021 a successful partnership has been created between the Growery and Birr 20|20 Vision, under the direction of first Fiona Breen and then Adrian Haines, who assisted the project with practical assistance in terms of leasehold, insurance, advise on group structure etc. The year 2024 proved a seminal one in the history of the Growery as their lease on Oxmantown Mall came to an end. Despite this challenge Birr Growery Group made significant progress in revitalising their Board and launching a new website and are actively seeking a new larger premises which should see this social enterprise thrive into the future.
