Derrinturn & Carbury
Turning the Sod training sessions have ended in this area. The group is now moving ideas forward with County Kildare LEADER Partnership.
View the Carbury-Derrinturn SMART community strategy
This strategy was developed through Turning the Sod training sessions, which brought together local community members to develop a community-focused, realistic and ambitious set of projects for the local area.
Working collaboratively, participants identified local priorities, engaged with their wider communities, and created a shared vision and action plan for local, community-focused projects.
Click below to view and download the SMART Community Strategy.
Turning the Sod training in Carbury & Derrinturn
Local people from Carbury and Derrinturn took part in ten Turning the Sod training sessions between November 2025 and April 2026. During these sessions participants explored the strengths and assets of their local area, discussed ways local groups could improve collaboration and communication, and explored opportunities for the future. Towards the end of the sessions they defined a set of projects to make the local area a better place to live, work and visit.
Through a mixture of discussion, practical activities, guest speakers and a field trip to successful community projects, participants built confidence, shared local knowledge and worked collaboratively to create a SMART Community Strategy, priorities and next steps that reflect the ambitions of the local community.
Community Research
Participants developed a community survey to ensure priorities, project ideas and aspirations were informed and shaped by input from the wider community. Promoted through local groups, events, networks and social media, the survey received 133 responses, gathering views and data on the priorities of the local community.
Community Presentation
The programme culminated in a Community Presentation on 9th April at Carbuy GAA Club, bringing together participants from the Turning the Sod programme, local residents, group members, local businesses and representatives from organisations.
At this well-attended event participants shared what they had learned, presented the priorities and projects identified through the training, and invited others to become part of the journey ahead.
The event celebrated the work of everyone involved while encouraging support and volunteers from the wider community.
Priority Projects
Using local priorities identified in the Community Survey, alongside key Challenges and Project Ideas explored during the sessions, a set of key projects was established during the sessions. These are available to view in the Smart Community Strategy here.
Next steps
The group is now moving ideas forward with County Kildare LEADER Partnership. If you would like to get involved, please contact hi@turningthesod.ie
Carbury, The Bog, the Rock and the Boyne
Inspired by the sessions and the other participants he worked with through Turning the Sod, David penned this poem as a homage to his locality and its potential.
It emphasises the area’s strength of character formed by its landscape and the people of Carbury, and the opportunities surrounding them.
Yes, there is frustration about how some things have been, but there is also real optimism here and a local drive to improve what we've got together.
Carbury, The Bog, the Rock and the Boyne
By David Shortall
Earth’s blood, sweat and tears,
built patiently over thousands and millions of years
The mud and moss in their separate, timely spheres,
became Rock and Peat over countless years.
The bedrock and the bog, coexist side by side,
Their opposing potential hydrogen is bizarrely magnetized
The blood sweat and tears, as Rock, Peat and years.
Carbon locked in,
Water’s filtered within
Feeding life, fertility, balance and fragility,
It’s the base of all being, this land oozes virility.
The eye of this “blow in” sees its beauty so clearly.
I wonder if others care so dearly
Are their eyes as fresh as mine?,
Can they see through the grime?
of day to day habitation, which dilutes infatuation
Captivation, rebirth, born again to see Earth
In a new light, it seems the time is right.
The Rock beneath us, filters water pure to feed us.
Unpolluted and rising up to the thirsty,
from ancient well springs, Boann starts her journey.
It’s not long before her magical powers are diluted.
Discharge and waste, poisoned with haste,
Adding more and more, each mile, lapping shore,
But the fish?, the trees?, the birds? and the bees?,
Eutrophication, frustration, political complication.
Derogation, alienation, simplistic blame, dogmatic pontification.
Ill health and dirty water, boil or filtration
The polluter pays
Well that’s what they say,
but it’s not that easy. I’m feeling quite queasy,
At the thoughts of reporting, it’s really quite exhausting.
Call after call, mail after mail, the reply is the same,
Someone else is to blame.
Try this number, contact this site.
After weeks of frustration we give up the fight.
Ecology, hydrology, Physics, chemistry and biology,
Industry, engineering, leisure, living and etymology,
There’s a balance to be struck and the key is morphology
But what do I know, I spout cod-ology (bollox-ology)
Newgrange was built 5000 years ago
With rocks and stones from Louth and Wicklow
And our Boyne carried its exotic cargo
Yes the Boyne flowed strongly and enabled this marvel.
Oh, the fish, the trees, the birds and the bees,
Sustenance and fertility from rock and river trustees.
Blood sweat and tears, to Rock and peat over years,
filtered by water it should be crystal clear.
We have what we hold, we hold what we have.
What we have we hold dear. But sell out for profit, the consequences unclear
Maybe together we can influence change
Community, county and cross border range
The river flows through, starting near me and flowing past you.
Gathering pace and collecting volume,
Getting stronger each mile, a torrent of consume.
The lesson is clear, start small and gather pace,
Like the river where it rises and towards the shore it must race
But along the way its power of change
shapes the landscape as it goes,
Can’t we do the same.
Lessons from nature, from heritage and hydrology,
The Boyne has taught us, if your senses allow,
Respect to ecology, biodiversity and Hydromorphology.