Join Mary And Her Daughters On A Journey Back to Their Roots
Retreat in the Planning Stages
Our fearless retreat leader Mary was born near Skibbereen, a village in Co. Cork, near the southern coast of Ireland. Though her life took her across the ocean to the States where she now lives, her heart always remained in the beautiful rolling hill of the Emerald Isle.
In the secluded rolling hills of Driminidy just outside the tiny village of Drimoleague, through a silver metal gate hung from an ancient stone wall, sits the over 200 year old farm house Mary called home for her childhood. Passed down through the generations of the McCarthy family this working farm retains its ancient rustic beauty despite the many changes it has undergone over the years. During her childhood Mary would play with her siblings among the cow fields. Rolling down the hills in barrels and using the fence stakes as makeshift swords the eight McCarthy children made the farmland the setting for their imaginations.
A generation later during the summers of her childhood Emma and her siblings (of which I am one) ranged those same fields learning about Irish farms and what it took to raise cattle in a changing and developing world. She used to hop the wall which separated the house yard from the farm fields and between the twin Ash trees tried to capture the farm donkey to try and ride it. Imagining he was a fierce stallion, trained for battle, she would tempt him with carrots and treats to try to get him close enough to the wall to get onto his back. Though she never succeeded it still remains one of her fondest memories of the farm.
Years later I returned to the farmhouse and stayed there with my mother for a few weeks. The remote nature of the house made it the perfect escape from the busy life that an internet connection gives you. I would awake in the mornings and look out the window to the rolling fields where the cattle were well into calving season. The adorable calves filled the air with their small voices, a truly magical sound to wake up to. Both the sunrise and sunset over the rolling green hills creates a magical place where the imagination can run wild. Every day I was there I found inspiration for my writing, from the quiet beauty of the landscape to the rich history of the house and farm, each day brough something new.
The magic and beauty of Ireland is well known by everyone who visits its shores. Places and memories are the reasons we have chosen Cork as the location for Balanced Bliss. Everywhere you turn, even down a seemingly normal country road there is beauty and magic in a country like Ireland. Sharing these places, the ones that only someone born and raised in Ireland would know, is a goal of the retreat. It is more than just a vacation in one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Balanced Bliss is an experience of an ancient land, led by those who grew up there and who know its hidden mysteries and gems.