Sustainability Skills Courses and Workshops Ireland
I teach permaculture and sustainability skills courses and workshops throughout the year in Ireland and other locations in Europe. Stay tuned for more courses in permaculture design, surveying skills, orchard care, hot composting, renewable energy, introduction to permaculture design, natural farming, plant propagation and more.
Book upcoming courses here: https://permaculturedesign.ie/shop/
My early career has mostly been spent providing private clients throughout Ireland with permaculture design for their homes farms and businesses, and providing holistic orchard care in gardens and farms throughout Cork, Kerry and Limerick.
One of my primary vocation aims however is to pass this expertise on to improve community resilience and sustainability throughout the land. Sustainability and food events are a perfect for this and I’m honoured to present to audiences across Ireland and the UK.
I give talks and demonstrations for environmentally conscious groups such as GIY, Tidy Towns, gardening groups, and environmental groups. Mainstream education and training boards in Ireland such as permaculture, horticulture and arborist courses often invite me in to guest teach specialist subjects such as permaculture design and orchard care.
Book upcoming courses here: https://permaculturedesign.ie/shop/
I look forward to hearing from you if you’d like me to work with your group, project or event.
Get in touch with me here: https://permaculturedesign.ie/contact/
Recently added courses
Orchard Summer Pruning Workshop 2025
Orchard Summer Pruning Workshop Details
Saturday 19th July, 10am -16.00pm
Ballingeary, Co Cork
Join Paul Lynch for a workshop on the theory and demonstration of orchard care from a permaculture perspective, focusing apple pruning.
Here is an article introducing the subject: https://permaculturedesign.ie/orchard-pruning-cork/
Course topics:
- Why prune at all?
- The natural shape of an apple tree
- The purpose of grafting, its effects and side-effects
- Summer pruning vs winter pruning
- Vegetative and fruiting wood
- Orchard guilds and design considerations
- Pollination
- Tools and tool care
- Disease pruning
- Pruning demos
Bookings & Information
Book upcoming courses here: https://permaculturedesign.ie/shop/
For all other enquiries contact info@permaculturedesign.ie or ring O89 2553096.
- Workshop price: €80
- Workshops suitable for adults only, no pets allowed on site
- Complimentary herbal tea served but lunch is self-catering
- If you have a secateurs, bring it along for the tool care section
- The entire workshop will be conducted outdoors in the orchard and under an outdoor shelter – be prepared for the weather
- Parking is limited at the workshop venue – allow time and energy for a (beautiful) 200m walk from the car park
- The garden is on a moderately steep slope and includes steps and rough terrain. Footwear with good grip is essential. Disabled access is not currently possible. If you want to host this course again at a more accessible venue please get in touch.
- Refunds available on cancellations up to two week before course only.
About the course leader:
Paul is a professional permaculture designer and orchardist based in West Cork, Ireland.
Paul’s teacher bio: https://www.permaculture.org.uk/user/paul-lynch
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– Past Permaculture Skills Courses –
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Winter Orchard Pruning Workshop 2025
Winter Orchard Pruning Workshop Details
Saturday 8th February, 10am -16.00pm
Ballingeary, Co Cork
Join Paul Lynch for a workshop on the theory and demonstration of orchard care from a permaculture perspective, focusing apple pruning.
Here is an article introducing the subject: https://permaculturedesign.ie/orchard-pruning-cork/
Course topics:
- Why prune at all?
- The natural shape of an apple tree
- The purpose of grafting, its effects and side-effects
- Summer pruning vs winter pruning
- Vegetative and fruiting wood
- Orchard guilds and design considerations
- Pollination
- Tools and tool care
- Disease pruning
- Pruning demos
Bookings & Information
To guarantee a place on the course contact paul@permaculturedesign.ie for bank transfer details and directions to the venue. Or ring O89 2553096 for enquiries.
- Workshop price: €80
- Workshops suitable for adults only, no pets allowed on site
- Complimentary herbal tea served but lunch is self-catering
- If you have a secateurs, bring it along for the tool care section
- The entire workshop will be conducted outdoors in the orchard and under an outdoor shelter – be prepared for the weather
- Parking is limited at the workshop venue – allow time and energy for a (beautiful) 200m walk from the car park
- The garden is on a moderately steep slope and includes steps and rough terrain. Footwear with good grip is essential. Disabled access is not currently possible. If you want to host this course again at a more accessible venue please get in touch.
- Refunds available on cancellations up to one week before course only
About the course leader:
Paul is a professional permaculture designer and orchardist based in West Cork, Ireland.
Paul’s teacher bio: https://www.permaculture.org.uk/user/paul-lynch
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It’s busy in the vegetable garden, I’m busy finishing my summer orchard pruning campaign for customers across County Cork, there are new permaculture design projects are coming in and I’ll be speaking at two sustainability related events over the last two weekends of September.
Macroom Food Festival 21st -22nd September 2024
First up is the Food Festival in my home town of Macroom in County Cork, Ireland. I’ll have a stall with permaculture information and business leaflets and will be on a panel with other food sustainability experts at the Good Vibes forum on Saturday the 21st in the Town Hall 10am to 1pm.
It’s a cool weekend and lovely to have Macroom town square busy with people enjoying themselves.
https://www.macroomfoodfestival.com/
Festival of Permaculture Wales 27th – 29th September 2024
The following weekend I’ll be off to Wales to the Welsh Permaculture Gathering at Three Pools Farm near Abergavenny. I’ll be running a workshop on Sunday the 29th at 2pm on Permaculture Design.
About the Permaculture Gathering
An annual get together of all things permaculture, with a fantastic lineup of inspirational speakers and practical skills based workshops, showcasing the best of permaculture across Wales and beyond.
Camp with us under clear starry skies with great local food, great music and great company.
Based at Three Pools Permaculture Farm in Abergavenny.
https://www.permaculture.org.uk/festival-wales
Details about the Permaculture Design Workshop
Talk plus workshop on aspects of Keyline and permaculture design by Paul Lynch
Talk and workshop on using using Keyline Design and Yeomans Scale of permanence as a starting point for larger permaculture design projects. Is Keyline design useful in wet places? Case studies from Ireland using drone-generated low-interval contour maps for getting a project overview and finding keypoints in the landscape to begin designing. Let the landscape guide your design. Workshop overlaying designs on contour maps – bring your crayons : )
If you have a low-interval (around 0.5 to 2m) contour map of a site that you’d like the class to look at bring it along and we’ll see if we can fit it in.
See you at the Permaculture Gathering!
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Paul has provided professional permaculture design, drone mapping and orchard care services to customers across the south of Ireland since 2016: https://permaculturedesign.ie/
Paul also runs permaculture courses and is a Certified teacher of the UK permaculture Association and is available to guest teach on PDCs.
Teacher profile: https://www.permaculture.org.uk/user/paul-lynch
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Summer Orchard Pruning Workshop 2024
Orchard Summer Pruning Workshop Details
Saturday 27th July 10am -16.00pm
Ballingeary, Co Cork
Join Paul Lynch for a workshop on the theory and demonstration of orchard care from a permaculture perspective, focusing apple pruning.
Here is an article introducing the subject: https://permaculturedesign.ie/orchard-pruning-cork/
Course topics:
- Why prune at all?
- The natural shape of an apple tree
- The purpose of grafting, its effects and side-effects
- Summer pruning vs winter pruning
- Vegetative and fruiting wood
- Orchard guilds and design considerations
- Pollination
- Tools and tool care
- Disease pruning
- Pruning demos
Bookings & Information
To guarantee a place on the course contact paul@permaculturedesign.ie for bank transfer details and directions to the venue. Or ring O89 2553096 for enquiries.
- Workshop price: €75
- Workshops suitable for adults only, no pets allowed on site
- Complimentary herbal tea served but lunch is self-catering
- If you have a secateurs, bring it along for the tool care section
- The entire workshop will be conducted outdoors in the orchard and under an outdoor shelter – be prepared for the weather
- Parking is limited at the garden – allow time and energy for a (beautiful) 150m walk from the car park to the site
- The garden is on a moderately steep slope and includes steps and rough terrain. Footwear with good grip is essential. Disabled access is not currently possible. If you want to host this course again at a more accessible venue please get in touch.
- Refunds available on cancellations up to one week before course only
About the course leader:
Paul is a professional permaculture teacher designer and orchardist based in West Cork, Ireland.
Paul’s teacher bio: https://www.permaculture.org.uk/user/paul-lynch
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Winter Orchard Pruning Workshop 2024
Winter Orchard Pruning Workshop Details
Saturday 3rd February, 10am -16.00pm
Ballingeary, Co Cork
Join Paul Lynch for a workshop on the theory and demonstration of orchard care from a permaculture perspective, focusing apple pruning.
Here is an article introducing the subject: https://permaculturedesign.ie/orchard-pruning-cork/
Course topics:
- Why prune at all?
- The natural shape of an apple tree
- The purpose of grafting, its effects and side-effects
- Summer pruning vs winter pruning
- Vegetative and fruiting wood
- Orchard guilds and design considerations
- Pollination
- Tools and tool care
- Disease pruning
- Pruning demos
Bookings & Information
To guarantee a place on the course contact paul@permaculturedesign.ie for bank transfer details and directions to the venue. Or ring O89 2553096 for enquiries.
- Workshop price: €75
- Workshops suitable for adults only, no pets allowed on site
- Complimentary herbal tea served but lunch is self-catering
- If you have a secateurs, bring it along for the tool care section
- The entire workshop will be conducted outdoors in the orchard and under an outdoor shelter – be prepared for the weather
- Parking is limited at the garden – allow time and energy for a (beautiful) 650m uphill walk from the car park to the site
- The garden is on a moderately steep slope and includes steps and rough terrain. Footwear with good grip is essential. Disabled access is not currently possible. If you want to host this course again at a more accessible venue please get in touch.
- Refunds available on cancellations up to one week before course only
About the course leader:
Paul is a professional permaculture designer and orchardist based in West Cork, Ireland.
Paul’s teacher bio: https://www.permaculture.org.uk/user/paul-lynch
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Calendar 2023
July 15th 2023: Hot Composting and Permaculture Garden Tour
– Course Descriptions –
Hot Composting & Permaculture Garden Tour
Location: Ansa Permaculture Design, Ballingeary Co. Cork, Ireland
Join Paul Lynch for a workshop on the theory and practice of hot composting. We will build a new pile together and turn “one we made earlier” so that participants get the full experience of the power of hot composting when it’s hot! Complimentary tea, coffee and light lunch included. We’ll also see how to use the finished product in a tour of an intentionally designed permaculture garden and touch on some permaculture design principles.
Here is an article and video showing the process: https://permaculturedesign.ie/hot-composting/
Course topics:
- Why hot compost? A miracle of transformation
- Hot composting benefits vs cold composting
- Composting materials and carbon to nitrogen ratios
- Material preparation and moisture
- How to build a good pile
- Turning a hot pile
- Use of compost and permaculture garden tour
Bookings & Information
To guarantee a place on the course contact paul@permaculturedesign.ie for bank transfer details and directions to the venue. Or ring O89 2553096 for enquiries.
- Workshop price: €75
- Workshops suitable for adults only
- Complimentary tea, coffee and light lunch included – if you have special dietary requirements please bring your own lunch
- The entire workshop will be conducted outdoors in the garden and under an outdoor shelter – be prepared for the weather
- Parking is limited at the garden – allow time and energy for a (beautiful) 650m uphill walk from the car park to the site
- The garden is on a moderately steep slope and includes steps. Footwear with good grip is essential. Disabled access is not currently possible.
- Refunds available on cancellations up to one week before course only
About the course leader:
Paul is a professional permaculture designer and orchardist based in West Cork, Ireland. Paul’s teacher bio: https://www.permaculture.org.uk/educators/1304/paul-lynch-educator-profile
Hot Composting and Permaculture Garden Tour August 2022 Photo Gallery
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Summer Pruning & Orchard Care Date to be decided
Location: Ansa Permaculture Design, Ballingeary Co. Cork, Ireland
Saturday
To be decided July/Aug 2023
10:00am – 16.30pm
Join Paul Lynch for a workshop on the theory and demonstration of orchard care from a permaculture perspective, focusing apple pruning.
Here is an article introducing the subject: https://permaculturedesign.ie/orchard-pruning-cork/
Course topics:
- Why prune at all?
- The natural shape of an apple tree
- The purpose of grafting, its effects and side-effects
- Summer pruning vs winter pruning
- Vegetative and fruiting wood
- Orchard guilds and design considerations
- Pollination
- Tools and tool care
- Disease pruning
- Summer pruning demo
Bookings & Information
To guarantee a place on the course contact paul@permaculturedesign.ie for bank transfer details and directions to the venue. Or ring O89 2553096 for enquiries.
- Workshop price: €75
- Workshops suitable for adults only
- Complimentary herbal tea included but bring your own lunch
- If you have a secateurs, bring it along for the tool care section
- The entire workshop will be conducted outdoors in the orchard and under an outdoor shelter – be prepared for the weather
- Parking is limited at the garden – allow time and energy for a (beautiful) 650m uphill walk from the car park to the site
- The garden is on a moderately steep slope and includes steps. Footwear with good grip is essential. Disabled access is not currently possible. If you want to host this course again at a more accessible venue please get in touch.
- Refunds available on cancellations up to one week before course only
About the course leader:
Paul is a professional permaculture designer and orchardist based in West Cork, Ireland. Paul’s teacher bio: https://www.permaculture.org.uk/educators/1304/paul-lynch-educator-profile
Summer Pruning August 2022 Photo Gallery
