"Walking the path of the Willow" ... the road to renewable energy at St Patrick's Kiltegan
Continuing our exploration in journeying towards an ecological awakening, we travelled to the beautiful home of St. Patrick’s Missionary Society, just outside of the village of Kiltegan in County Wicklow.
Responding to Pope Francis’ “challenge to protect our common home” encapsulated in his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si, the Fathers at St. Patrick’s Kiltegan tried to find ways of producing energy from renewable sources. They began by installing a wind turbine, solar panels and geo-thermal central heating. Recognising that more could be done, in 2018, they planted 13 acres of willow, followed by another 21 acres two years later for biomass fuel to replace their dependence on oil as central heating.
Their story is presented in a podcast and a photo blog, below.
In the podcast, Fr. Seamus O’Neill and Fr. Pat Murphy take us on an ecological walk that reflects on how the Kiltegan Fathers have responded to the challenge of living Laudato Si: