Bellefield: A Living Landscape
Paul Smyth, Bellefield House
52.99632, -7.932588
Bellefield holds that balance between memory and renewal, history and growth. Once a busy estate, then a quiet farm, now a living garden again, it continues to evolve under Paul’s care. Everything feels both old and new: the hum of history underfoot, the pulse of new life above it.
Between and Beyond War
Billy Dennis and Dan Mullalley, Shinrone GAA
52.98598656, -7.924280912
Tea, petrol, and cigarettes were all controlled by coupons, and families managed carefully the little they were allocated. His father worked as a greaser at a factory roughly six miles away, cycling the full distance there and back each day after a long shift. "There were hard times," says Dan. "There were no cars, and I barely remember the electricity coming."
An Evolving Education
Caitríona Cullinane, Shinrone National School
52.98489, -7.92342
Caitríona Cullinane describes Shinrone as “such a welcoming place” and says she would not have spent a third of her life there if she had not been happy, praising local people as “special” in the way they invite others in and make them feel part of the community. That sense of welcome is mirrored in the school itself, which has embraced families from across Ireland and, increasingly, from around the world. Cullinane speaks of being “blessed” to now have pupils from Afghanistan, China, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, all enriching the cultural fabric of Shinrone National School.