Your Farm and Mine

Back in 2018 the Moneydarragh Primary School was closed after nearly 200 years of service to the local families. Many of the last pupils had great-great grandparents schooled there so it was a sad loss to this rural community. But over the past couple of years the old school building has undergone a transformation thanks to the sheer determination of the local community...people like Margaret Rodgers a former pupil and then a teacher at the school, and local man, Hugh Cox, both from the Moneydarragh Hub.

And Causeway Coast and Glens Heritage Trust bring stories to light from the North Coast that were in danger of being forgotten. It's part of the 'Uncharted Histories Interactive Digital Map'. Helen visited The Heritage Trust's main office in Armoy where project co-ordinator Rachael Garrett had invited one Portrush resident, John Logan, to share some of his stories.

A special podcast to mark International Women's Day.

Sandra Biddle from Derry's Foyle School of Speech and Drama tells Anne Marie McAleese how gender equality has changed for her and her daughters:

"In Irish dancing there were the girls' parts and the boys' parts. There seems to be an idea that this was what men will teach and what women will teach. Thankfully that is starting to be diluted."

And Noelle McAlinden, the artist and recently appointed High Sheriff of County Fermanagh from Enniskillen, says she's on a mission to "make creativity contagious as an antidote to Covid".

Presented by Anne Marie McAleese.

Anne Marie McAleese hears from Janet Schofield and Clint Langley at CAN, the Compass Advocacy network, based at Lislagan Road outside Ballymoney. The group has developed a social farm for vulnerable adults and young people that creates a safe space for green therapy, animal assisted therapy, nature schools, and much more.

And Robin Masefield tells the story of Ireland's first Lacrosse Club, at Ards in County Down, which was established in 1872. The sport was first played in Canada by First Nation people, but thrived in Ireland until the 1930s, and was known as "the fastest sport on two feet".

Anne Marie McAleese visits Garron Plateau in County Antrim, a blanket bog and special area of conservation, to find out why this vast landscape is so important. And Linda McKenna explains to her the dark past of Downpatrick's Gallows Hill, and why it is known locally as "The Three Sisters".

Photograph by Alasdair MacDonald on Geograph and licensed for reuse under Creative Commons Licence.

Anne-Marie McAleese visits Devenish Island in Lough Erne, Fermanagh with boatman, Barry Flanagan. At the top of its hundred foot round tower tower carvings of four saints look towards north, south, east, and west.

And soprano, Mary McCabe from Downpatrick, and pianist, David Quigley from Camlough, discuss their performance of La Voix Humaine - Poulenc's one act Opera, which is to be performed in six unusual places across Northern Ireland as part of Opera Northern Ireland's Salon Series, starting in the Throne Room in Hillsborough Castle.

Photograph of Devenish Island by Rossography, on Geophraph.

Colum Sands tells Anne Marie McAleese about his new book, These Quiet Times, which seeks to "tell the story of what might have happened", taking a step back and appreciating the beauty around us. And Katrina McCaughey from the parish of Aughentaine just outside Fivemiletown explains a social history project on the folklore of the area, including the blacksmiths, a ghost story, and the late Hughie McMahon.

Filming the Causeway Coast, the lime kilns of Slieve Gallion, and Keith & Kristyn Getty.

Frances Lavery on the second volume of Songs and Poems of Tynan Parish, compiled by Middletown and Tynan Historical Society, including Sean Lynn's Worse and More. Each has a "story to tell". And Bob Salisbury explains how he and his wife Rosemary transformed their garden in Seskinore near Omagh in County Tyrone from a rural desert into an award winning haven for wildlife.

The Armagh Observatory's Simon Jeffery tells Helen Mark about his discovery of eight stars many times hotter than the sun, and how he named one of them. Helen also visits White Park Bay on the North Antrim Coast with marine geologist Professor Andrew Cooper... a beach with sand that has travelled many miles.

Helen Mark visits site of the crash of an historic Dragonfly helicopter in Lough Foyle with the man who found it, Johnny McNee of the Marine Plan Team of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs. He describes it as little more than a "lawnmower with wings". She also sees the 'back entries' of Belfast - which are being transformed into new green spaces - with Brid Ruddy in Wildflower Alley, and Amberlea Neely of the '9ft in Common' Project - named after the width of the alleyways.