About Us

Enbarr Productions Limited is an Irish company providing education via multimedia content, classes, and hands-on training focusing on food and community sustainability via two primary business lines:

Enbarr Productions is focused on producing and distributing engaging, entertaining educational video content connecting farms, restaurants, and consumers

Old Hill Farms is an educational farm and horticultural nursery growing vegetables, fruits, herbs, and trees, and providing classes in multiple aspects of horticulture

Our offices are located in Maynooth, Co. Kildare. Agriculture and nursery operations are located on a 67 acre farm owned by the company founders at Shanaknock, Millstreet, Co. Cork. The farm supplies seasonal vegetables, herbs, and fruits to local shops and restaurants.

Mission

To enrich daily living by supporting sustainable, healthy, and thriving communities.

Vision

Our values are rooted in the belief that everyone deserves to live in a healthy environment. We are committed to providing enriching and educational content via multimedia and in-person mediums that inspire positive change, and strive to make a productive impact on the world through our work. We believe transparency, accountability, and collaboration are vital attributes in all of our efforts.

Sustainability is a core principle in our operations and focal area of our educational work:

We use organic, low-till, and permaculture methods for growing vegetables, fruits, herbs, and trees
More than 8 acres of the farm have been planted with a mix of native Irish trees to expand forest coverage and encourage habitat for local animal and plant species
Composting toilets, wood chips from pruning local trees, natural soil amendments, regular cover crops to build nutrients, and planned rain catchment are some of the many efforts to reduce consumption and overall carbon footprint
Investment in solar, wind, and minimising petroleum product use are ongoing programmes with a goal of net positive alternative energy generation by 2030.

The Back Story

Originally from the west coast of the United States, Marisa and Stan moved to Ireland in 2019 to enjoy the rich history, strong community, and stunning beauty of Irish life. Ease of travel to the rest of Europe and closer proximity to Africa and the Middle East meant less time in airplanes and dealing with jetlag, however, COVID-19 resulted in shelving those plans for a couple years.

It was during the long months of COVID lockdown that we hatched a plan to purchase some land and plant native Irish trees as a way to improve the environment and help recover some of the forest land in Ireland. After searching most of the country we settled on a former dairy farm near Millstreet in County Cork which had mixed quality lands, a small area of bog, and a few acres of spruce threes planted in the 1990s and left unmanaged.

The local townland is Shanaknock, or Seachnoc in Gaeilge (Irish language) meaning 'old hill' from which we got the name Old Hill Farms. In the valley just to the south is Millstreet - made famous for hosting the Eurovision song contest in 1993, but prior to that a hub of dairy farms that supplied milk and such to Cork city over the 'Butter Road'. On the other side of the valley Claragh Mountain provides stunning views, and the municipal water supply - including the farm - is fed with holy water from Tubrid Well.

A couple years of studies, applications, and paperwork resulted in approval for government grants, and in 2023 approximately 9 acres of oaks, scots pine, rowan (mountain ash), and alder were planted. These trees are not crops for future harvest - aside from infrequent thinning of unhealthy trees, our goal is for these lands to become mature forest someday to be enjoyed by future generations. As the older spruce plantation becomes mature we plan to harvest and then replant with Irish tree species and nearly double the amount of native trees.

While the forestry plans were underway, in 2021 we planted a small fruit orchard in one of the fields, and began growing veg, fruit, and herbs in a larger field near the yard. Garlic is a particular favourite, along with potatoes, onions, Jerusalem artichokes, pumpkins, carrots, turnips, courgettes, tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, asparagus, currants, raspberries, strawberries, mint, sage, lovage, coriander, parsley, and more. Most of the produce so far is for our consumption and sharing with family and friends.

We use sustainable, organic, permaculture, and companion planting methods - no insecticides, sprays, chemicals, etc. Where possible we use no-dig / low-till and rotation cover crops such as crimson clover and mustards to improve soil quality. Bark made from material on the farm helps with weed suppression, and plans to generate our own compost will reduce demand for outside soil amendments. Several projects to move away from fossil fuels are underway or planned including solar and wind power generation.

In early 2024 we founded Enbarr Productions Limited - trading as Old Hill Farms - a commercial entity to provide education / entertainment as well as ability to sell some of the produce we grow. Initial offerings will include in-person classes at the farm on plant identification and foraging, and a show on social media about foods grown and produced in Ireland (coming soon!). We are also starting a nursery focused on native Irish tree varieties to help expand the stock of saplings available in Ireland rather than importing most of the tree stock from the continent.