Clare Island Yoga Retreat Centre
The centre is located on the
Lighthouse Road, on the northeastern end of the island. This is the least
developed part of the island, and is very quiet.... It is set on 240 acres of land.
mostly mountain land grazed by sheep and horses, but there's also a 10 acre
native woodland, and a number of organic gardens and two polytunnels, which supply some of the
fruit and vegetables for the courses. This is now our home as well, and we want the boundaries between our farm and homestead
and the yoga centre to be relaxed and friendly.
View of the centre from the East, with (from left to right) the polytunnel, the old cottage and its extension, the main house and the stables
We are very committed to making sure that the centre fits unobtrusively into the surroundings, and is as environmentally friendly as possible. We compost all our organic waste and recycle as much as possible. We use wood for space heating, and solar panels help heat the water and minimise our carbon footprints. The renovation of the old cottage included fitting in 3 comporst toilets. Every year, we set aside an area of land for tree planting. In the past 5 years, we have planted nearly 6000 trees on the farm, mostly native species.
We also welcome helpers and woofers off-season,
who stay at the centre and help us with our island chores, be it working in the
houses or in the gardens, helping with the animals or planting trees, helping out with building work, etc.
The woodland in spring
How it all started
The
Clare Island Yoga Retreat Centre, began unexpectedly when, in 2001, we
had the crazy idea of doing an Easter yoga retreat on the island where
we had been living (Ciara on and off for nearly twenty years,
Christophe for two years). We were surprised that the course filled up;
but perhaps we shouldn’t have been surprised by the delight
expressed by the participants. Despite the cold and draughty community
centre hall we were using then for the yoga classes, and the very basic
accommodation we were able to organise, everyone seemed to go away
happy to have shared this very special island experience. People raved
about our food, about the surroundings and dramatic landscape of the
island, and were appreciative of the chance to deepen their yoga
practices without stress or pressure.
So we continued holding courses at various times of the year. We struggled with our poor infrastructure and the ‘changeable' weather, and yet we continued to receive very positive and gratifying feedback. Throughout this interesting and challenging journey, we became more and more convinced that the idea of a yoga retreat centre on Clare Island was a good one. Islands are special places, and this one in particular, lends itself as a unique setting for both exploration and introspection---movement both outward and inward. Clare Island is an island off an island off and island, on the very edge of Europe. True, we not able to offer the consistent and predictable blue skies and warm weather of tropical venues, but the island has its own special qualities, including its remoteness, its beautiful and rugged landscapes, the dramatic changes in its Atlantic climate, and yes, when we do get good weather it is very good, (and when it is bad, it can be spectacularly bad!)
In 2002, we made the big decision to start a major project, which included building a new timber house with a large yoga studio and upgrading and extending our old island cottage to a high standard of accommodation for the students. Around the same time, we welcomed our son Theo into the world. Talk about timing......
The yoga room and accommodation were finished in July 2004 and we ran a number of successful courses that summer, while struggling to complete the work on the new house, which wasn't completely finished until the beginning of the summer of 2005.
The centre has since hosted workshops with many great teachers, including Nancy Gilgoof, Paul Dallaghan and his teacher Tewari, Venkatesh and his wife Hema, Emil Wendel. Paddy Mc Grath and Rossella Baroncini.
