Blog Three: Lisa Bourke, teacher of 3rd class in Salesian Primary School, reflects on Meadhbh of the Woods
Third Class students from Salesian Primary School, Limerick with Meadhbh of the Woods project. Photo: Claire Hurley
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.
The Salesian Primary School is a Catholic school in the Salesian tradition in Limerick city. It caters to boys and girls from Junior Infants to First Class, and to girls only from Second Class to Sixth Class. Salesian Primary School is an inclusive school and caters for children of all abilities. In January 2025, there were a total of 27 Teachers on the Staff including the Principal, 17 class teachers and 9 SEN (Learning Support/Resource/EAL) Teachers. Four Special Needs Assistants (3.41 Allocation) were assigned to the school by the Department of Education and Science to enable the inclusion and support of children with Special Educational Needs.
Lisa Bourke, teacher of 3rd class in Salesian Primary School, Limerick reflects on the project Meadhbh of the Woods. Quotes taken from interviews with artist Fiona Linnane.
Two of our three residencies took place during the third term, and I always forget the intensity of that term. Looking back, one of the things the children spoke about most was how hard they had to work and how much perseverance the project required. That in itself, as a lesson, was really valuable because it has taught them that anything worthwhile requires a lot of effort.
The value of working on one large-scale project across two terms is that the children show other sides of themselves that you may not have seen. When you look at everything they have made, composed, performed, reflected on – that is valuable; but it is all of the secondary benefits that, for me, have shone a bit brighter.
With so much of an overloaded curriculum to cover each day, it can be difficult to find time for creativity. Yet, giving children the space to create, chat, and simply enjoy the process has enormous value for their wellbeing and social development. They might be just sitting together cutting feathers out of paper and chatting about all sorts of things, not necessarily the task at hand, but those opportunities for relaxed interaction and creativity are few and far between these days.
It gave them the opportunity to go much deeper because it has been a conversation going on across two terms. Their language has changed, even in using the words from the Creative Habits of Mind wheel – the depth we got into has been invaluable. It is good to sometimes just stop and dig deep. Everything else can wait, we are invested in this.
Read blog two from the same series here – artsineducation.ie/en/2026/09/18/blog-two-third-class-students-at-salesian-primary-school-limerick-introduce-meadhbh-of-the-woods/
Read blog one from the same series here – https://artsineducation.ie/en/2026/07/22/blog-one-third-class-students-at-salesian-primary-school-limerick-introduce-meadhbh-of-the-woods/
