Carving out community

Starting as a local pilot in County Clare, Queer Sheds has grown into a vibrant national movement. Common Knowledge’s Aoife Hammond shares more about the project and the ways it reimagines how LGBTQ+ people gather, learn, and support one another across Ireland. Photos by Eoin Greally.

Having spent my 20s in Dublin surrounded by a vibrant queer community and organising in DIY spaces, five years ago, I moved to Leitrim. While much of my experience was positive, at times, I encountered moments of homophobia and discrimination that left me feeling unsafe. What stood out to me during those difficult times was how the local queer community came together to offer support and solidarity. That sense of connection beyond the city felt powerful and made me want to build stronger, more visible queer communities in rural Ireland.

Looking for a job that might give me space to do this, I found an opportunity to work on the queer climate action project ‘Homeworks’ at non-profit social enterprise Common Knowledge, based in the wilds of the Burren.

I couldn’t believe that this kind of role existed—one that brought together all the things that I care about and my experience from the past 15 years.

Leading the Homeworks project at Common Knowledge, I worked in partnership with GCN and its publisher, the National LGBT Federation (NXF), to bring together 25 LGBTQ+ people from 20 to over 70 years old for five days to explore community-rooted climate action. What emerged went beyond environmental concerns; the level of joy and connection was like nothing I’d experienced before. It became clear that there was potential to create a new kind of space and that it could be filled with this buzzing, creative, compassionate energy.

The idea for Queer Sheds had been in the mind of Common Knowledge founder Fionn Kidney for some time, having moved away from the city himself with a curiosity about new ways that queer people could build community in rural areas. The idea drew inspiration from the Men’s and Women’s Sheds movements, known for building informal, local communities around practical skill-sharing and often described as “mental health by stealth”. We decided to explore how a similar approach might work for LGBTQ+ people by starting a Queer Shed in our local community in Clare.

We started by inviting some of the local queer community, including members of the brilliant local Pride organisation Quare Clare, to a potluck dinner, discussing things we’d like to learn, and things we’d like to share. What came through in this and later conversations was that other queer people, particularly in rural areas, were also feeling a sense of isolation, a lack of safe and inclusive spaces, and limited access to non-commercial, non alcohol-centred events. Over six months, we ran skill-sharing workshops and co-design sessions with the support of the Clare County Council and the Department of Rural and Community Development.

As soon as we launched the project, we were inundated with messages from people across the country interested in setting up their own Queer Shed. Two years later, Queer Sheds has become a grassroots project with new Sheds emerging all over Ireland. Designed for and by LGBTQ+ people, we’re reimagining what queer connection looks like, especially where isolation is felt most, through peer-led, hands-on spaces of solidarity. Led by our crew at Common Knowledge, our approach emphasises nature connection, is neurodiversity-affirming and intersectional across queer communities. It creates an opportunity to share skills, space, solidarity and stories that can help us as a community to support each other’s mental health, visibility, and sense of belonging regardless of our lived experience or background.

As a way to gather those interested across the country, we decided to host a two-day LGBTQ+ skill-sharing celebration featuring music, performances, talks, workshops and shared meals in an alternative but safe, warm and affirming environment, and called it Faoin Tuath. This year’s festival in May was extended to three days, with workshops that included learning to make bird boxes for biodiversity with Steve Finnerty, Denise Conroy and Elaine McFerran; green rope from grass with artist William Bock; seed saving with Dan Connor; our shared Irish LGBTQ+ histories; Queer Nature walks with Cork Queer Nature Collective; fermentation with Savage Craic; and queer Irish language workshops with Aerach Aiteach Gaelach. By night, we started with a Céilí Mór and enjoyed performances by Ultan O’Brien and Molly Sterling, Venus Patel and Grainnemir Abualrob, Boy Lucid, Zahra Haji Fath Ali Tehrani, Lily Torode and DJs from Tabú Queer Club in Galway, as well as a screening and discussion with Pradeep Mahadeshwar from Queer Spectrum Film Festival.

This year, Queer Shed Clare has grown legs of its own and is being driven by members of the community, whilst myself and Fionn focus on how we might support a national network to emerge. Since launching an open call for new Queer Sheds earlier this year, we’ve received applications from 35 potential Queer Sheds across the island of Ireland, from cities to tiny townlands, from the coast to the midlands. In June, we’ll bring together 10 of those groups for a co-design residency at The Common Knowledge Centre to imagine what a national network could look like, what organisers might need to get started and what support we can offer to guide, connect, and sustain this momentum.

If you’re interested in joining or starting a Queer Shed, visit queersheds.org or follow @queersheds on Instagram. We’ll be sharing details of groups as they emerge, and supporting those interested in starting one themselves. You don’t need to be a carpenter or have lots of experience in organising. You just need to show up and be part of something that is growing!