About An Tobar & Memory Trees
An Tobar Wellness Centre & Social Farm is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company (CIC), set up by sisters Margaret Finnegan and Kathleen Finnegan-Agnew in April 2018.
We are very excited to add Brian’s Wood and Memory Trees Ireland to our social enterprise endeavours.
What is An Tobar?
An Tobar is a shared community space for everyone and welcomes everyone. But An Tobar isn’t just a place, it’s a way of life, it gives us a purpose and it’s why we get up in the morning to go to work.
At An Tobar people from our community get opportunities to enjoy our facilities, working in our community gardens, taking walks in Brian’s Wood, connecting with nature, maybe visit the hens to collect eggs, feed the ducks or pigs, or just take it all in and relax with a tea or coffee by the fire in Libby’s Tearoom, meeting and catching up with friends in its cosy, relaxed atmosphere.
We are blessed with our wonderful team of staff, volunteers and Board of Directors, and all our participants and regular customers.
Heartfelt Thanks to You all.
How and why did An Tobar come about?
Well it all started with a Dream… A dream to share our beautiful space with the community.
We had always known that there was an element of healing and wellbeing here. People had been telling us for years how therapeutic it was and how being here makes them feel good.
After Libby’s Tearoom opened in 2015 it quickly became a social hub for the local community. Also around that time our own mother (Libby) began to develop dementia and the whole garden area became a safe haven for her.
So as we began to see the place through her eyes and other people’s eyes, we decided to explore this wonderful idea to give back to the community by promoting health and wellbeing.
Our Aims
An Tobar means ‘The Well’ or ‘Well-spring’ in Irish, and takes its name from the healing-well on our farm where centuries-old secret healing rituals endured until our grandfather's time.
The cultural significance and symbolism of water for healing and life-giving, is recognised and shared world-wide.
Our Aims are:
• To Improve the Health and Wellbeing of the Community.
• For People to feel Connected and Included.
• To Tell Their stories.
• To Build Communities Together.
• To celebrate the individuality and uniqueness of all our participants and the joy they bring to An Tobar every day.
Wellbeing is at the heart of everything we do at An Tobar and likewise all our projects including Memory Trees Ireland, are designed with wellbeing in mind. Inclusion and equality is also at the heart of everything we do. We are proud to be a neutral venue without affiliation to politics or religion. An Tobar is for everyone and welcomes everyone.
