Éire Dhúchasach – Who We Are
Éire Dhúchasach is an education and training association exploring what it means to be indigenous or hold indigenous values on the island of Ireland.
We are concerned with connecting and relating to the land and sea territory of the island of Ireland in an embodied way.
This means building experiential evidence to understand and heal our past, establish health and balance in our present and build fortitude for our future together as people sharing the land and waters of Ireland.
These principles are carried in the Irish idea of Dúchas which we use as a basis of our thinking. Dúchasach the adjective activating this idea, is also our native word for indigenous.
How does this approach help us to be indigenous to here?
Dúchas is an old gaelic word that suggests an eco-systems approach to life as it links cultural identity and well-being to security in our home-place. Despite our difficult history repeatedly engendering division- between people, and between people and their natural eco-systems- we believe restoration of balance and health is possible.
Our bodies hold the score- restoring them to health is a first essential step to recovery. In order to do this, our eco-system/s as life-givers have also to be restored.
These missions naturally go hand in hand and require a combined inward and outward journey to reintegrate our natural alignment with the Dúile, or natural elements, we live among. We guide groups and individuals who wish to explore dúchasach through various tailored programs.
We actively share with and learn from other indigenous peoples worldwide on global developments in indigenous issues and endeavour to produce and disseminate information among our groups members, subscribers and podcast followers.
Born and reared in Doire (Oak Grove or Derry) with care and love from the Henderson, Mitchell, Steele and Plews people.
I am a water based mammal, sustained and inspired by the River Faughan, Foyle, Roe and the Atlantic Ocean.
I have 2 boys and I work in community education and human rights.
Li-Ban mermaid myth on Lough Neagh and River Bann
In 2026 I completed work with a small group of local girls and women to develop the local myth of Li-Ban as a River Guardian Story. We successfully published a set of Oracle Cards with support from Cultúrlann Uí Chanáín that honour the elements and species from this ecosystem and aim to promote nature connection and nature informed wisdom. The Oracle Card pack can be purchased here.
Wise Warrior Women
This work is ever-evolving and involves community education and facilitation with a range of women’s groups on the themes of transformative justice, patriarchy, de-colonisation and re-indigenising, drawing on nature-informed wisdom and methodologies.
Shane O’Connor is my name, and my other clanns are Moorhouse, Murphy and Bryan from the Eastern coastal waters, woods and hills of Leinster, Ireland. I have three daughters, Kíra, Lúa, Ollie and although originally from Baile Átha Cliath/Dublin, I live with my wife Elena and family in Madrid. I work with people to create beneficial change by reconnecting with indigenous wisdom, practices and knowledge.
Éire Dhúcasach Podcast
The Éire Dhúchasach monthly podcast keeps us connected in meaningful ways with our co-collaborators in Ireland and around the world, to learn from the development of their lives and work, and how this work relates to the themes we are working with. Listen here
Ár n-anáil a Athdhúichiú – Re-Indigenising our Breath
I run training in indigenous breathing or re-indigenising our breath. This training can be taken in person or on-line. Breathing as we are meant to and as we were made to involves releasing ourselves from learned behaviour and engaging the way our ancestors breathed for immediate and long term health benefits
Tá mé i mó chonai i nDoire ar an imeall le Dún na nGall – I live on the border of Derry and Donegal, beside the mighty Foyle river and the fecund Lis na Grá woodland. My immediate clanns are McBride, McCudden, Anderson and Price. I have 4 children and work in outdoor education
Laochra ag Fanacht – Warriors in Waiting
At Bealtaine 2026 I published a bi-lingual poetic text, translated into Irish by Aodh MacGairbhea and illustrated by Jessica Klier, exploring the origins of our earliest peoples. This text was first launched in 2025 in an open call by 23 Irish and international artists on Instagram. The hard copy can be purchased here.
The Triskele Process- An Modh Trisceal
I offer in-person mentoring process under the title of An Modh Trisceal, a process co-devised in 2017 with Shane and Easkey Britton. This process can be self-directed using this Handbook. I have developed a model for parents to run with their own children also, simplifying the 9 steps for children of primary school age. Both the adult version and the version for parents & children will be published in hard copy in Samhain 2026 which will soon be available to purchase.
Amhráin don Déasgnath – Songs for Ceremony
This is a collective playlist of original songs from various artists I have been working with for a few years. The songs are in easy-to-learn Irish for use in creating ceremony on the island of Ireland and beyond. They are available to listen to for free here. If you would like to submit a song please contact me.
Tá conaí orm i Sligeach, Sligo or Shelly place, a name once attributed to the river now called The Garavaogue. Garbhóg is the Cailleach, the landscape goddess associated with shaping mountains, lakes and land.
My family line includes Sweeney, Gallagher, Campbell, Ferguson and Fallon. I carry the same love and passion for the land and its people that they have.
I work on the bridge between science and wellbeing supporting people to connect to land and to self, feeling compelled to protect the vulnerable spaces and places where this work might happen.
EXPLORE YOUR NATURE ANCESTRY
In this dual-language Irish/English publication, you are invited on an imaginative journey into the origins of the peoples on the island of Ireland. Complement it with a set of our mermaid myth Oracle cards about Liban, the Guardian of the River Bann.
Explore the Collection