Ruth Marshall is a poet, storyteller, author and heritage specialist, living in East Clare.
When I was 13, on a family holiday to Mull, I lay by a stream on the isle of Iona, watching the water flow through a ring of stones. There I found stillness, and a spirituality rooted in the earth, yet crowned with stars. I wrote my first poems there, and part of my soul seems to reside always in Argyll.
I immersed myself in stories of the Celtic and Viking past. I visited stone circles and went on to study archaeology at Glasgow University, but so long ago that I have to count the tree rings to ascertain exactly when. But I kept on writing.
A couple of years after university, I moved to the north of Scotland, grew organic vegetables and herbs. I worked as an folklore collector, co-ran a wholefood shop, was a WEA tutor and started a women's writing group in Inverness.
In 1986 I moved to Ireland, and became part of a group starting a school in East Clare. That school grew to become what is now RaheenWood Steiner National School. We also started a co-op to generate work in the area. I became a puppeteer with Dandelion Puppets, co-writing and performing shows with social and environmental themes in schools and festivals around Ireland. Later I edited Grian, a local magazine, and co-founded the Poetry Collective in Co Clare.
I was editor/publisher of Network Ireland holistic magazine for 16 years (1995-2011); and for 7 years, was a director and trainer on Irish Steiner Kindergarten Teacher Training (2003 - 2010). I worked as an OPW heritage tour guide on Scattery Island, a small monastic island in the Shannon Estuary
I trained in a number of fields, including: Life & Business Coaching; Steiner Kindergarten Teaching; Reiki; The Metamorphic Technique; Sacred Circle Dance Teacher & Soul-Making Teacher; The Transformation Game Facilitator; Storytelling as a Healing Art; Train the Trainer; Poetry Depths Mystery School.
Author of three books (Celebrating Irish Festivals; Clare Folk Tales: Limerick Folk tales - see BOOKS for more details), I am also a 'Heritage Specialist' on the Heritage in Schools Scheme, offering hands-on workshops for primary age children on storytelling, traditional seasonal festivals, healing plants and crafts. I taught Creative Writing at ALFA Raheenwood, a Steiner school for teenagers, and I am a creative writing tutor with Limerick & Clare ETB. I visit schools in Co Clare as a poet and storyteller through the Artists in Schools scheme, and also offer creative workshops through the Embrace programme.
In old Scottish tradition, a red thread is used for healing and protection. I see a red thread weaving through my life - a thread of healing bound into an essential creativity. When I follow that thread, it leads me into experiences that I sometimes do not understand until afterwards. When I stand back, then the pattern emerges, and it makes sense.
I love to knit. I particularly love Fair Isle knitting, and the way the colourful patterns build creating amazing sacred geometry at the crown of a hat. I love that I can make something wonderful out of what someone else might think was scrap. I like to think that we can knit the world better.
But even more than this, I love to work with people and see them grow into more of who they really are.
I immersed myself in stories of the Celtic and Viking past. I visited stone circles and went on to study archaeology at Glasgow University, but so long ago that I have to count the tree rings to ascertain exactly when. But I kept on writing.
A couple of years after university, I moved to the north of Scotland, grew organic vegetables and herbs. I worked as an folklore collector, co-ran a wholefood shop, was a WEA tutor and started a women's writing group in Inverness.
In 1986 I moved to Ireland, and became part of a group starting a school in East Clare. That school grew to become what is now RaheenWood Steiner National School. We also started a co-op to generate work in the area. I became a puppeteer with Dandelion Puppets, co-writing and performing shows with social and environmental themes in schools and festivals around Ireland. Later I edited Grian, a local magazine, and co-founded the Poetry Collective in Co Clare.
I was editor/publisher of Network Ireland holistic magazine for 16 years (1995-2011); and for 7 years, was a director and trainer on Irish Steiner Kindergarten Teacher Training (2003 - 2010). I worked as an OPW heritage tour guide on Scattery Island, a small monastic island in the Shannon Estuary
I trained in a number of fields, including: Life & Business Coaching; Steiner Kindergarten Teaching; Reiki; The Metamorphic Technique; Sacred Circle Dance Teacher & Soul-Making Teacher; The Transformation Game Facilitator; Storytelling as a Healing Art; Train the Trainer; Poetry Depths Mystery School.
Author of three books (Celebrating Irish Festivals; Clare Folk Tales: Limerick Folk tales - see BOOKS for more details), I am also a 'Heritage Specialist' on the Heritage in Schools Scheme, offering hands-on workshops for primary age children on storytelling, traditional seasonal festivals, healing plants and crafts. I taught Creative Writing at ALFA Raheenwood, a Steiner school for teenagers, and I am a creative writing tutor with Limerick & Clare ETB. I visit schools in Co Clare as a poet and storyteller through the Artists in Schools scheme, and also offer creative workshops through the Embrace programme.
In old Scottish tradition, a red thread is used for healing and protection. I see a red thread weaving through my life - a thread of healing bound into an essential creativity. When I follow that thread, it leads me into experiences that I sometimes do not understand until afterwards. When I stand back, then the pattern emerges, and it makes sense.
I love to knit. I particularly love Fair Isle knitting, and the way the colourful patterns build creating amazing sacred geometry at the crown of a hat. I love that I can make something wonderful out of what someone else might think was scrap. I like to think that we can knit the world better.
But even more than this, I love to work with people and see them grow into more of who they really are.