Blog Two: Third class students at Salesian Primary School, Limerick introduce Meadhbh of the Woods

Meadhbh of the Woods was a collaboration between Third class of Salesian Primary School, Limerick, classroom teacher Lisa Bourke and three artists; composer Fiona Linnane, soprano Tríona Walsh and visual artist Claire Hurley. The project took place between January and June 2026 and was supported by the Creative Youth Arts Initiatives, TAP and BLAST.

Claire Hurley is an Irish multidisciplinary artist and arts facilitator whose work explores connections between people, place, memory, and the natural environment. Drawing on a background in archaeology, art, and ecology, she creates participatory projects that use creative making as a way to foster connection, reflection, and shared experiences. Working across textiles, sculpture, mixed media, and collaborative art processes, Claire is particularly interested in the role of ritual, storytelling, and folk traditions in building community and strengthening relationships with the landscapes we inhabit. Her workshops often incorporate natural and recycled materials, encouraging participants to engage with themes of care, belonging, identity, and environmental awareness through accessible hands-on activities. Claire has worked with a wide range of participants, including children, young people, older adults, and community groups. She aims to create welcoming, inclusive spaces where creativity, conversation, and collective making can flourish.

In the second post of a new guest blog series, the students of third class in Salesian Primary School, Limerick share their experience of collaborating with artist Claire Hurley during their project Meadhbh of the Woods.

Collaborating with Artist Claire Hurley for Meadhbh of the Woods

The woodland creatures were part of the song. There were foxes and deer and rabbits and everyone got a say in that, how they would represent every animal. Even when there were too many animals, we could go from one to the other. I was a fox
but I volunteered to go to the starlings.

Claire pulled up a picture of a starling and we would get inspiration from that but it didn’t have to match it exactly. When I was designing my mask, a lot of people were doing leaves and feathers but I took four colours but different shades but added a lot of colour so you could see from afar. I put my hand up and showed it and Ms. Bourke was like ‘that’s a really good idea’ and then a lot of people did it also.

What stood out most for me was making Meadhbh. I love how she is green – it makes her stand out. Claire said that she wanted to go for a vibe that was fairy themed. We used cardboard and we used lots of materials we found. With Claire we
looked at what she had made before and took parts of that to add to Meadhbh. We painted her and made her very big and we used a cloak.

You can show the creative talents that you have and express all of it.

You can build something a bit different and become a whole new person.

You can have fun in school, which makes you want to go to school even more.

You can have new hobbies so if you did something at school, maybe you might try to do it at home alone and make other stuff at home and then bring it in to show everyone.

Read Blog One from this series here – https://bit.ly/4zE4rWq