The Women’s Collective Ireland organisation in Clare will host an Open Day on September 3rd between 11am and 7pm at Clon Road Business Park in Ennis, Co. Clare.
This is a fantastic opportunity to meet the dynamic WCI-Clare team, explore upcoming training and events, and discover how you can get involved in empowering women across the county.
Women’s Collective Ireland is a national women’s community development organisation, core funded by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, working to advance disadvantaged women’s equality through women’s community development.
WCI represents and works directly with women experiencing disadvantage through our 17 Grassroots Women’s Community Development Projects in Clare, Donegal, Dublin, Kerry, Leitrim, Limerick, Mayo, Monaghan, Roscommon, Waterford, Westmeath, and Wexford – including WCI Ronanstown.
The WCI-Clare team have been extremely busy this year and are very eager to launch their new vibrant programme of courses, workshops and events for women in Clare. Join Co-ordinator Cecilia Brizuela, Development Worker Martina Hynan and Project Worker Tanya Palamar to learn more about their plans for future events, workshops, and training opportunities.
From January to August 2026 WCI-Clare hosted courses, workshops and one-off events. Most recently, they collaborated with historian Dr Jane O’Brien to offer Walking in her Footsteps: Women’s Heritage At Risk walking tour of Ennis as part of Heritage Week, supported by Clare Heritage Office. One participant commented:
I enjoyed all of it, it was a lovely open group of women, I felt comfortable and made connections. In particular, a reframing occurred for me about life and conditions for women before the education offered by the religious establishment.
The remarkable turnout for this guided walk clearly demonstrates a profound public appetite for uncovering women’s hidden histories across Ireland, inspiring the WCI-Clare team to actively develop new opportunities that build upon this momentum.
Other highlights so far this year include the creation of WCI-Clare’s Community Garden in association with Ennis Environmental Action Group. This garden has been a great success, and the team are looking forward to sharing the garden’s bounty with visitors to their Open Day.
The WCI-Clare team also hosted a stand at this year’s Mary Robinson Conference in July which was an opportunity to share information about their community garden and their short course, Climate Change: What does it mean for women? which was funded through REACH.
These are just a small selection from the calendar up to August. In addition to these events and courses WCI-Clare ran one-off workshops, for example in June, they hosted the Tango & Chacarera Workshop with Dr Makela Brizuela. This is the second consecutive year that Dr Brizuela has run a dance workshop for WCI-Clare and there are already planning a workshop with Makela for 2027.
This is just a small snapshot from the WCI-Clare calendar up to August. As coordinator Cecilia Brizuela says: “If you’d like to find out more about what we’ve been up to this year, and what’s coming up for the Autumn/Winter term, come along to our Open Day. We’ll have all the details on our upcoming courses, events and workshops, and we’re always happy to answer any questions you might have. We’d also love to hear your ideas and suggestions for future events.”
To learn more about the WCI-Clare Open Day please contact: clare@womenscollective.ie
Or phone 087 2777477