Clare Island ECO-FARM

MACALLA FARM, CLARE ISLAND

MACALLA Farm is a small holding located on Clare Island, off the Mayo coast of Ireland.

 

Macalla (the hill of the echo) is the name given locally to the hill above the houses. It is also the final resting place of Michael Joe O'Malley, an extraordinary islander without whom it would never have happened.

 

The land is mostly mountain land grazed by a flock of sheep and a small herd of horses, but there's also a 10 acre native woodland, orchards, gardens and two polytunnels. The horses, mostly Connemara ponies, are used for breeding, riding and for various jobs on the farm.  They are kept and trained as naturally as possible, live out all year, and are ridden and worked without shoes or bits.

We grow fruit, vegetables and herbs organically in our garden and polytunnels and produce jams, country wines and herbal teas.

We have a small flock of milking sheep, and in the spring and summer, make yogurt, kefir and cheese from their milk.

We  harvest wild herbs from the land and make them into delicious herbal teas.

We welcome WWOOFers (volunteers) for most of the year.