Steph Saidha

Steph Saidha is a Limerick-born, Dublin-based visual artist, whose work focuses on the connections between people, landscapes, traditions, and play. Through a blend of studio research and community engagement, her practice is committed to producing playful artworks aimed at creating slowed-down, embodied and decompressing sensory experiences. Her research draws on interdisciplinary methods taken from socially-engaged art, hospitality, critical pedagogies and care work. While this work can take many forms, if often tends towards photography, drawing, text, and installations.

She completed a BA in Fine Art Media at the National College of Art & Design, Dublin in 2023, and an MA in Art and Social Action at the same institution in 2024. Most recently, her series of prints, Wrapper Drawings, were exhibited in The Limerick Show at Ormston House from November 2024 to February 2025.

Gerry Bohan is a Leitrim-based farmer managing a farm that has been in his family for seven generations. He took over in 2000 and operates a 40-acre farm with suckler cattle and hens. The land consists of free-draining soil, wet lowland, drumlin soil, and reclaimed bog. A quarter of the land provides high-quality meadow grass for winter fodder. Like many in the area, the farm transitioned from dairy to suckler cows in the 1980s due to economic and environmental challenges.

Soil structure is crucial for farming mixed-quality land. Over 300 metres of hawthorn hedging have been planted, and additional hedging was laid under the ACRES Scheme. Seven acres have been set aside for conservation, including reclaimed bogland. Despite many badger setts in the area, TB has not been an issue.

Gerry's land holds historical significance. A Neolithic burial tomb, recognized as a national monument, is located on his farm and has been fenced off for protection. His townland, Aughadrumcairn, means "the field on the hill of the mound of stones." Stories about the tomb and local history have been shared on the Ray D’Arcy show and local radio as part of the folklore project "Amach to the Field" (2023). Some of these stories featured in his book The Clainings Tree first published in 2023. Flax buried in his bog by family members following a market collapse during famine times remains preserved and usable.

Gerry stays engaged with farming networks while balancing his work with heritage projects and other creative projects.

The Farm Walks project (est. 2023) was co-created by Leitrim County Council Arts Office and The Dock, in partnership with The Leitrim Sustainable Agriculture Group and the Ulster Wildlife Farmers’ Group in Fermanagh, funded through the Creative Ireland Shared Island Programme. Through the project, the partners aim to build cross-border cooperation, to explore the common ground between artists and farmers, and to highlight shared farming and environmental interests.