Embracing a Regenerative Way of Living Off the Land
Welcome to The Long Acre
By definition, “the long acre” means to graze livestock on the verge of a road, but to me, it means a lot more…this expression along with “living on the long acre” was often used by people to describe me and my journey. My love for all thing’s nature related began very early in my life. Long before I had even started school, I was making life lasting memories with all creatures great and small.
My journey began in Co. Tipperary on May 31st, 1994, when I entered the world. Born into an old Ireland to a young mother, who wanted to give me a life with opportunities beyond her abilities, she made the selfless sacrifice to give me up for adoption.
Blessed from the start with a hard-working, loving couple, a mother dedicated to her nursing and a father dedicated to his craftsmanship, who adopted me into their Dublin home. In time, our family grew when my parents adopted another child, my younger sister, now a primary school teacher overseas. Years later, I discovered, through tracing my roots that I was blessed with other siblings, who I am so incredibly proud of as they are forging their own paths on this journey we call life. I am very grateful to have made these discoveries and connections, and to have met my biological relatives and siblings, as I know many adopted men and women are never afforded such an opportunity. Although some connections cannot always be rekindled, I take great comfort in knowing who I am and where I come from. Many unfortunate men and women are left with unanswered questions due to the negligence of Irish Social Services, the Irish State and the Religious Organisations of Ireland, in times gone by. “I’ve lived a life always trusting in God’s plan, even though his plan was very different to my own.” I live my life now, never using my experiences in life to excuse my behaviour but instead, trying to use my experience through life to explain my behaviour.
Remember this; “be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind!” ~ Dr Suess.
Embracing a Regenerative Way of Living Off the Land
Welcome to The Long Acre
By definition, “the long acre” means to graze livestock on the verge of a road, but to me, it means a lot more…this expression along with “living on the long acre” was often used by people to describe me and my journey. My love for all thing’s nature related began very early in my life. Long before I had even started school, I was making life lasting memories with all creatures great and small.
My journey began in Co. Tipperary on May 31st, 1994, when I entered the world. Born into an old Ireland to a young mother, who wanted to give me a life with opportunities beyond her abilities, she made the selfless sacrifice to give me up for adoption.
Blessed from the start with a hard-working, loving couple, a mother dedicated to her nursing and a father dedicated to his craftsmanship, who adopted me into their Dublin home. In time, our family grew when my parents adopted another child, my younger sister, now a primary school teacher overseas. Years later, I discovered, through tracing my roots that I was blessed with other siblings, who I am so incredibly proud of as they are forging their own paths on this journey we call life.
I am very grateful to have made these discoveries and connections, and to have met my biological relatives and siblings, as I know many adopted men and women are never afforded such an opportunity. Although some connections cannot always be rekindled, I take great comfort in knowing who I am and where I come from. Many unfortunate men and women are left with unanswered questions due to the negligence of Irish Social Services, the Irish State and the Religious Organisations of Ireland, in times gone by. “I’ve lived a life always trusting in God’s plan, even though his plan was very different to my own.” I live my life now, never using my experiences in life to excuse my behaviour but instead, trying to use my experience through life to explain my behaviour.
Remember this; “be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind!” ~ Dr Suess.
The Farming Journey Began
The greatest influence on my childhood was the precious time spent on my mother’s family farm in Co. Westmeath. Spending summers, weekends and holidays on my uncle’s and grandparent’s farm, I was reared with the knowledge of how to be a keeper of the land. I learned how to make a living while still having respect for natures place and purpose on a modern farm. This hands-on education with my uncle and grandmother was equally as valuable and important as the life-lessons I learned from both of my parents.
The Long Acre Journey
I spent my late teens and early twenties working and managing various positions in the agricultural sector throughout Ireland. I am fortunate to say I have experience in most types of enterprise in Ireland, for example, dairy, sheep, beef, suckler, deer. But the main goal always being to start my own little farm.
The Farming Journey Began
The greatest influence on my childhood was the precious time spent on my mother’s family farm in Co. Westmeath. Spending summers, weekends and holidays on my uncle’s and grandparent’s farm, I was reared with the knowledge of how to be a keeper of the land. I learned how to make a living while still having respect for natures place and purpose on a modern farm. This hands-on education with my uncle and grandmother was equally as valuable and important as the life-lessons I learned from both of my parents.
The Long Acre Journey
I spent my late teens and early twenties working and managing various positions in the agricultural sector throughout Ireland. I am fortunate to say I have experience in most types of enterprise in Ireland, for example, dairy, sheep, beef, suckler, deer. But the main goal always being to start my own little farm.
The Long Acre Journey
In 2018 the opportunity came for me to purchase a plot of land, just shy of 7 acres, up in the hills in Co. Tipperary, back where my life began. A lot of people tried to convince me that I was making a mistake and that the land was beyond repair, but I ignored the naysayers. I took a leap of faith which to date has proven to be the greatest decision I have ever made. After working and living on and off for almost eight years in East Galway, I left a home away from home in the west of Ireland to return to my county of birth, Tipperary, and begin the journey that is now known as The Long Acre.
From the time that I purchased the lands, I began reclaiming the land straight away, re-establishing the dried up and overgrown pond when one day it was said to me by a friend, “why not set up a platform where we can see all the work you’re carrying out on your new land?”
It was then I set up an anonymous page on Instagram, never showing my face or using my voice. I began sharing the photos with my thoughts in writing of my work in progress for friends and family to see. Before long, the long acre Instagram page began to grow because of a talent unknown to me, of capturing the essence of farming in sync with nature.
The Long Acre Journey
From the time that I purchased the lands, I began reclaiming the land straight away, re-establishing the dried up and overgrown pond when one day it was said to me by a friend, “why not set up a platform where we can see all the work you’re carrying out on your new land?”
In 2018 the opportunity came for me to purchase a plot of land, just shy of 7 acres, up in the hills in Co. Tipperary, back where my life began. A lot of people tried to convince me that I was making a mistake and that the land was beyond repair, but I ignored the naysayers.
I took a leap of faith which to date has proven to be the greatest decision I have ever made. After working and living on and off for almost eight years in East Galway, I left a home away from home in the west of Ireland to return to my county of birth, Tipperary, and begin the journey that is now known as The Long Acre.
The Long Acre Journey
As the page’s popularity grew, it encouraged me to bring more value for the people interested in watching what I do. One day, I swallowed my fear and decided to talk from behind the camera explaining to people about some ducks on the long acre pond. The response to my attempt at documenting the ducks during breeding season was overwhelming. The words of encouragement and compliments I received were heart-warming and I was inundated with messages asking me to show myself before the camera for the first time and to share my experiences on the long acre. And so, I did.
The Long Acre Journey
It was then I set up an anonymous page on Instagram, never showing my face or using my voice. I began sharing the photos with my thoughts in writing of my work in progress for friends and family to see. Before long, the long acre Instagram page began to grow because of a talent unknown to me, of capturing the essence of farming in sync with nature.
As the page’s popularity grew, it encouraged me to bring more value for the people interested in watching what I do. One day, I swallowed my fear and decided to talk from behind the camera explaining to people about some ducks on the long acre pond. The response to my attempt at documenting the ducks during breeding season was overwhelming.
The words of encouragement and compliments I received were heart-warming and I was inundated with messages asking me to show myself before the camera for the first time and to share my experiences on the long acre. And so, I did.
The Long Acre Journey Continues
One very rainy day in early spring, I turned the camera away from nature and back on myself. This was the start of me vlogging my life on the long acre. Within a couple of weeks and with regular videos of me showing and talking about nature and farming, the page’s popularity grew and grew. Within a matter of months, I had gone from several hundred followers to just shy of 4000 and now, mid 2024, across all my channels and networks, there are almost 100k people who appreciate my content. My photos and thought-provoking videos have sparked both controversy and compliments. My own popularity has given me a platform to be more involved with taking part in mental health initiatives, politics, podcasts, news pieces, movements and protests for the people of Ireland, and promoting well-being by connecting to the outdoors.
The Long Acre Journey
One very rainy day in early spring, I turned the camera away from nature and back on myself. This was the start of me vlogging my life on the long acre. Within a couple of weeks and with regular videos of me showing and talking about nature and farming, the page’s popularity grew and grew. Within a matter of months, I had gone from several hundred followers to just shy of 4000 and now, mid 2024, across all my channels and networks, there are almost 100k people who appreciate my content. My photos and thought-provoking videos have sparked both controversy and compliments. My own popularity has given me a platform to be more involved with taking part in mental health initiatives, politics, podcasts, news pieces, movements and protests for the people of Ireland, and promoting well-being by connecting to the outdoors.
So, 6 years on, what is happening with The Long Acre? As of late autumn, 2020, I was blessed with another opportunity of purchasing a few more acres along with a little cottage and farmyard, right beside The Long Acre. And since the beginning of 2021, works have began re-establishing this little farm that I now call home. I also went about digitizing the original logo that I designed myself, and redesigning it for the Lifestyle brand. The Long Acre page which I felt captured everything to do with my lifestyle on the long acre, and from that, I created The Long Acre Lifestyle, a clothing collection, to make the space to sell products relevant to like-minded, outdoor nature and farming enthusiasts.
So, 6 years on, what is happening with The Long Acre? As of late autumn, 2020, I was blessed with another opportunity of purchasing a few more acres along with a little cottage and farmyard, right beside The Long Acre. And since the beginning of 2021, works have began re-establishing this little farm that I now call home. I also went about digitizing the original logo that I designed myself, and redesigning it for the Lifestyle brand. The Long Acre page which I felt captured everything to do with my lifestyle on the long acre, and from that, I created The Long Acre Lifestyle, a clothing collection, to make the space to sell products relevant to like-minded, outdoor nature and farming enthusiasts.
The Long Acre Journey
So, what does the long acre lifestyle mean? Our Earth has provided for us in so many ways, so being able to help nature and make the environment in my surrounding area a home to various wildlife has provided me with so much joy. It brings me comfort knowing I can make a difference, even in the smallest ways. For me, the ability to get outdoors and to connect with nature is a brilliant way to ground oneself and to obtain peace of mind, when you help to create space for the things that really matter in life and learn not to dwell on matters beyond our control. I want others to embody that same inner peace I feel from going outdoors seeing all the wildlife. When we take time to give back to nature, the results are very visible and encouraging that small changes make a big difference.
Along with promoting biodiversity with farming I wanted to set up this website so that I could give others the opportunity to follow my footsteps in nature and begin to make small steps in their gardens and local areas to promote wildlife and biodiversity by giving people the knowledge and some tools they might need to do so from the comfort of their homes.
The Long Acre Journey
So, what does the long acre lifestyle mean? Our Earth has provided for us in so many ways, so being able to help nature and make the environment in my surrounding area a home to various wildlife has provided me with so much joy. It brings me comfort knowing I can make a difference, even in the smallest ways. For me, the ability to get outdoors and to connect with nature is a brilliant way to ground oneself and to obtain peace of mind, when you help to create space for the things that really matter in life and learn not to dwell on matters beyond our control. I want others to embody that same inner peace I feel from going outdoors seeing all the wildlife. When we take time to give back to nature, the results are very visible and encouraging that small changes make a big difference.
Along with promoting biodiversity with farming I wanted to set up this website so that I could give others the opportunity to follow my footsteps in nature and begin to make small steps in their gardens and local areas to promote wildlife and biodiversity by giving people the knowledge and some tools they might need to do so from the comfort of their homes.
The Long Acre Journey
With all of this in mind, I am soon to start my next venture, The Long Acre Farm Shop. I have seen time and time again, the desire for ethically produced Irish meats, nature based products and ethical produce. I often say that every day you need a farmer three times- for breakfast, dinner and tea. I count myself lucky to have worked the land from such a young age, to have experience in sales and in butchering too. I want to bring the highest quality bundles in both meat and animal based products to support better health to my customers. I’m looking forward to seeing the new twists and turns on the journey of the long acre, and to continue living this life to the fullest.
You can stay up-to-date on the daily by following my social media accounts, and if you want to be a part of The Long Acre journey, check out the new farm shop, coming soon!
The Beef Box Timeline
With all of this in mind, I am soon to start my next venture, The Long Acre Farm Shop. I have seen time and time again, the desire for ethically produced Irish meats, nature based products and ethical produce. I often say that every day you need a farmer three times- for breakfast, dinner and tea. I count myself lucky to have worked the land from such a young age, to have experience in sales and in butchering too. I want to bring the highest quality bundles in both meat and animal based products to support better health to my customers. I’m looking forward to seeing the new twists and turns on the journey of the long acre, and to continue living this life to the fullest.
You can stay up-to-date on the daily by following my social media accounts, and if you want to be a part of The Long Acre journey, check out the new farm shop, coming soon!
Explore Our Offerings
Join The Long Acre community by wearing our logo with pride or by truly living the lifestyle with products directly from The Long Acre farm!
