The Cloughjordan Ecovillage is an ongoing project to create an eco-village community in the village of

Cloughjordan Cloughjordan, officially Cloghjordan ( , ), is a town in County Tipperary in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Barony (Ireland), barony of Ormond Lower, and it is also a parish in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Killaloe. The town is si ...

County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. The community is being developed on of farmland, purchased in 2005, within the

townland A townland (; Ulster-Scots: ''toonlann'') is a traditional small land division used in Ireland and in the Western Isles of Scotland, typically covering . The townland system is of medieval Gaelic origin, predating the Norman invasion, and mo ...

Oxpark Oxpark () is a townland in the Barony of Ormond Lower, County Tipperary, Ireland. It is located north of Main Street Cloughjordan. Historical structures Cloughjordan House is an historic private residence within Oxpark. The present house compr ...

and which merges with the existing village of Cloughjordan. The first residents moved into their homes in the eco-village in December 2009. A district heating system powered by a wood chip boiler provides hot water to the homes. A

community-supported agriculture Community-supported agriculture (CSA model) or cropsharing is a system that connects producers and consumers within the food system closer by allowing the consumer to subscribe to the harvest of a certain farm or group of farms. It is an altern ...

scheme was established in 2008. Members of Cloughjordan community farm are drawn from the eco-village and surrounding area. The farm aims to supply members' families with much of their food using

biodynamic Biodynamics may refer to: * Biodynamic agriculture, a method of farming based on the teachings of Rudolf Steiner ** The Biodynamic Association, a United States–based company that promotes the Biodynamic agriculture system ** Biodynamic wine B ...

principles. The farm cultivates 12 acres within the eco-village. Village Education Research and Training (VERT) is a working group within the eco-village. It runs courses encouraging best practice in

sustainable living Sustainable living describes a lifestyle (sociology), lifestyle that attempts to reduce the use of Earth's natural resources by an individual or society. Its practitioners often attempt to reduce their ecological footprint (including their carbo ...

. 29 near

zero-energy building A Zero-Energy Building (ZEB), also known as a Net Zero-Energy (NZE) building, is a building with net zero energy consumption, meaning the total amount of energy used by the building on an annual basis is equal to the amount of renewable energy c ...

s (NZEBs) in the village were open to the public during the "Near Zero Energy Buildings Open Doors Ireland" event held in November 2013. Other NZEB Open Doors events took place elsewhere in Europe, under a program promoted by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. A community

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meani ...

, created within the eco-village was opened by

Michael D. Higgins Michael Daniel Higgins (; born 18 April 1941) is an Irish politician, poet, broadcaster, and sociologist who has been serving as the president of Ireland since 2011. Entering national politics through the Labour Party, he served as a senator ...

President of Ireland The president of Ireland () is the head of state of Republic of Ireland, Ireland and the supreme commander of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Irish Defence Forces. The presidency is a predominantly figurehead, ceremonial institution, serving as ...

in April 2017.

References

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External links

Cloughjordan Ecovillage website
Cloughjordan Ecovillages Intentional communities in Ireland