Skip to main content
coastalresilience

Our Team

Our team of twenty are taking a creative, process- oriented approach which mixes the skills of artistic and non-arts partners to address complexity together. The purpose of this project is not to create a pre-decided artistic output (such as a performance, exhibition or art piece) but instead to apply the creative process and skills of artists - called ‘creative logic’ - to support Maharees communities to reflect on, discuss, and co-create ways to adapt to the twin pressures of climate change and biodiversity loss. More information about our approach can be found here:

We are delighted to be working with ten Community Partners, who bring their unique skills, interest, and relationship to place on this journey exploring the future of Maharees. We believe that we each hold a valuable perspective on how the future could unfold, and we need to center the lived experiences and knowledge of Maharee people to understand what a climate- resilient community could look like here.

Ben Spillane
Ben is a dedicated advocate for the Maharees community, drawing on a strong background in marine engineering and over five years of experience in the oil and gas shipping industries. After returning home three years ago, he launched two local businesses: a wood-fired sauna and a seasonal food trailer serving coffee and breakfast. Having witnessed the devastating impact of storms on the maharees especially in recent years, that flooded roads and homes, he is passionate about implementing measures to protect the Maharees. Ben is committed to fostering resilience and sustainability in the community through active participation in local projects.
Duncan Knox
Duncan is a passionate watersports instructor and dedicated community partner, deeply rooted in the Maharees where he was born and raised. Working alongside his father in the family watersports business, he has developed a profound connection to the ocean and its impact on their small community. Witnessing the environmental threats facing the Maharees firsthand, Duncan actively participates in local projects focused on safeguarding their coastal environment. His commitment to both his profession and the well-being of his community drives him to advocate for sustainable practice, ensuring that future generations can enjoy the beauty and resources of the Maharees.
Ed
I moved to Maharees from Dublin nearly 5 years ago and it has very much become home. It was always a ‘home from home’ as my mother is from here and my father comes across the bay, Brandon. I was very lucky to spend every summer and holiday here and the place has always been such a huge part of my life. I’ve seen the impacts of climate change and how it has affected the area and want to be able to give back and help support this place I call home. Especially now that I have a young family, I want to ensure that the area is preserved for future generations to enjoy it as much as I always have.
Hannah Hennessy
Hannah, born and raised in Maharees, is passionate about her community. Hannah is an active volunteer within the locality. She is a leader with the local youth club and serves as treasurer for the Summer Festival Committee. Excited to be a community partner in the Neart Na Machairí project, she is committed to making a positive impact on her local area. Recently returning to education at Munster Technological University, Hannah is studying Home Economics and Business to become a teacher after many years as a special needs assistant. With a deep connection to her roots, she strives to empower others while fostering sustainability and growth in both her studies and community initiatives.
Kate Gay
I feel very lucky to live in the Maharees and to swim in its wild seas. I want this natural treasure to survive and thrive. Nature has created such a magical place here, an awe-inspiring ecosystem anchored on limestone, joined together by shifting sands. It is precious, not only to us but also a wider community and ecology. The tombolo acts as a sea defence for the Special Area of Conservation between Tralee Bay to Cloghane. I feel privileged to be part of the Creative Coastal Resilience team, on a journey to strengthen the fabric of the Maharees. The butterfly effect teaches us that small things matter, and that we are all connected to a bigger system. I hope Neart Na Machairi inspires people everywhere, to choose positive actions that nurture a better future for our living planet and consequently ourselves.
Mairead Kinsella
Mairead is a visitor to Maharees from March to October, spending most weekends and all the summer months at her mobile home with her family. Mairead is interested in sustainability and especially how our every day actions an impact climate change and living healthier. Mairead and her family are very interested in the Maharees, the work of the MCA and the learning about the unique biodiversity in the area.
Maria
Maria grew up in Maharees, surrounded by the beauty of its expansive beaches and sand dunes, and immersed in her family's tourism business. After living and working in many vibrant and exciting places around the world, the desire to give her own children the same magical upbringing she experienced drew her back. Wanting her young family to enjoy the natural playground she cherished, Maria returned to live in the local community two years ago. She joined the Neart na Machairí project as a volunteer to gain a deeper appreciation of the area’s unique biodiversity and to better understand how the local community might build resilience against future climate challenges. Her hope is to instil in her children a passion for protecting this extraordinary place, empowering them to be advocates for its future.
Noirin
Three years ago, I moved to the Maharees, drawn by its stunning beaches, vibrant nature, and welcoming community. Since then, I’ve been grateful to call it home. An avid sea dipper, I can often be found on the back beach walking my two dogs, soaking in the atmosphere and amazing views on any given day. Volunteering for this project is my way of giving back and contributing to the preservation of the Maharees, ensuring its preservation for generations to come.
Pat Frank Henessy
Pat Frank, originally from Kilshannig, grew up immersed in vegetable production, tourism, and fishing. After an international career in offshore wind, he now works primarily from home as a marine operations consultant for offshore wind developers. Pat also supports his wife, Kelly, with their young family and guesthouse. His interests include history, archaeology, regenerative food production, and traditional practices that promote sustainable living. On their smallholding, he breeds Connemara ponies, reflecting his love for animals and nature and is secretary of Castlegregory agricultural show. Through his involvement in the NnM project, Pat has come to believe that the strongest response to climate change lies in building informed, cohesive, and empowered communities, capable of facing future challenges together.

Guiding the creative exploration are our three embedded artists, holding a wealth of experience working with communities to address biodiversity loss and climate change through creative engagements that center joy, playfulness and deep care for both the communities they work with and the natural materials they use and create.

Zoë Uí Fhaoláin Green
visual and performance artist

Zoë lives in the Corca Dhuibhne Gaeltacht and is a visual and performance artist with a multidisciplinary and collaborative practice. She creates site-responsive performances and artworks and facilitates many creative and environmental projects with communities and young people. 

"I am excited and honoured to be sharing the role of embedded artist in the Maharees as I have long admired the work of the MCA and I very much look forward to working with the whole Maharees community to creatively explore solutions and support them as their precious place faces challenges and change." 

Emer Fallon
Writer

Emer Fallon lives in the West Kerry Gaeltacht. She is an active member of Corca Dhuibhne Community Forum and Cúinne an Ghiorria environmental collective and has been delivering creative environmental programmes to Corca Dhuibhne primary schools since 2021. Her studies in climate, sustainability and environment, and her postgraduate in Irish Folklore feed her creative and environmental work. 

"I am so pleased to be sharing the role of embedded artist with Zoë and Silke. The Maharees is a special place, and it’s an honour to work with the Conservation Association."

Silke Michels:
Visual artist & mindfulness teacher

Silke is a visual artist and mindfulness teacher, living on the Dingle Peninsula. Her work is site- specific, she responds with a variety of creative approaches to places. Her focus is to re-connect a sense of belonging and identity within the natural world.

“I am excited and humbled to be one of the embedded artists in this project. I am looking forward to learning with and from experts and people living in Maharees about their struggle and success with protecting their home from climate change. I wish to contribute to the existing work by raising awareness through creative actions on how to protect this beautiful tombolo."


The Creative Coastal Resilience Steering Group supports the facilitation of the project, including strategic design, the learning journeys, and reflective learning dimension of the project. It is composed of our Project Designer, Project Evaluator and Representatives of project partners Maharees Conservation Association and Dingle Hub.

Dr. Clare Watson
Academic

Clare lives near Ballydehob in West Cork. She has a long history of working with groups and communities on social and sustainability issues, a PhD on engaging communities in climate action and a particular interest in reflective learning and evaluation. Between 2018 and April 2023, Clare led the MaREI engaged research team in Dingle Peninsula 2030, supporting the sustainable transition on the peninsula. She established a process of reflective learning within the partnership and co-created a series of learning briefs (including three for the 2022 Dingle Peninsula Creative Imagining project). 

Zoë Rush
Project Designer

Zoë is a designer who has been living in Castlegregory for the past two years. She has volunteered in community-led projects throughout her life, exploring and supporting local resilience and place-based sustainability and climate action. Her passion lies in designing workshops that engage people to participate in imagining a future that is locally relevant, environmentally sustainable and just. Zoë holds a degree in Psychology from University of Edinburgh and a Masters in Integrated Design from Koln International School of Design where she specialized in co-design processes. She previously worked for Ireland’s Knowledge Centre for Carbon, Climate and Community Action within MTU, educating community groups and schools about climate change and the circular economy.

Aidan O'Connor
Founding Member and current Chair of MCA

Aidan is from Kilshannig West and is one of the founding members of MCA, as well as their current Chair. He has extensive experience growing vegetables in a variety of landscapes in Kerry, including the sandy soils of Maharees. Aidan brings his previous experience of being a participant farmer in Creative Climate Action: Corca Dhuibhne Inbhuanaithe with artist Lisa Fingleton in 2021.

Martha Farrell
Founding Member and current Treasurer of MCA

Martha is a lecturer at Munster Technological University within the school of Business, Computing and the Humanities and a founding member and director of MCA. She is actively engaged in community-led environmental action for the last eight years and is also a member of Tralee Tidy Towns (Secretary), MTU Green Campus (Chair), Tralee Chamber Alliance (Company Secretary), the Transition Kerry 'From the Ground Up' network, and  the Kerry Climate Action Network. Dingle Peninsula Creative Imagining project. 

Patricia Herrero
Member of MCA - biodiversity subcommittee 

Patricia has lived in Kilshannig for 4 years during which time she became a member of MCA’s Biodiversity subcommittee. Her role within the project’s Steering Committee is to guide the project throughout and represent a part of the wider community. Patricia brings many years of project management and strategy design, and a growing interest in our environment.

Jeanne Spillane
Member of MCA – biodiversity subcommittee

Jeanne was born and raised in Maharees and has spent much of her life working in Spillane’s Bar, a local institution which has been in her family for 5 generations. In between stints working at the pub, she has also pursued her passions of learning, traveling and (cliché alert!) trying to make a difference. Jeanne is currently doing a PhD in Sociology in UCC with a focus on energy and climate. Having worked at national and international policy levels, Jeanne has come to believe that substantive, sustainable change must be achieved at local level and that local action can set an example while having a lasting impact at a national and global level. She is excited for Maharees to continue to show this in action.

Deirdre de Bhailís
Dingle Hub Manager

Deirdre’s key focus is to build a sustainable community by fostering an ecosystem that supports the creation of enterprise and employment on Corca Dhuibhne. Through Dingle Hub, she works on multiple projects which address the peninsula’s transition to low carbon ways of living. These involve working in partnership to explore coastal resilience, energy communities, greener transport initiatives and anaerobic digestion solutions to address climate change. Deirdre is a Chartered Engineer and holds a degree in Electronic Engineering from NUIG and a Masters in Engineering Science from UCC.


Creative Coastal Resilience is a recipient of the Creative Climate Action Fund, an initiative from the Creative Ireland Programme. It is funded by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in collaboration with the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications. Further information on the Climate Action Fund is available at the following link: www.creativeireland.gov.ie