About Shed
March 2020
A Shed is born
Clondalkin Men’s Shed has been running since 2015. Tom Lennon and Frank Cousins are the founding members with Tommy O’Neill and Fintan Mullally providing assistance with committee duties. Tom remembers the moment he was inspired to start a shed, coming from the Asgard boat.
“I was at home one night and nationwide came on the tv,” Tom says “It was a shed down in Tyrell’s Boat yard in Arklow. The Asgard boat was supposed to be going back to the yard but it never got there. Then I saw that the boys in one of the sheds in Arklow had made a boat in memory of the Asgard. I thought ‘I’d love that’. I’m big into boats, I love them. I thought the idea of a shed was brilliant, so I set out to set one up.” An avid swimmer Tom and some friends spend Mondays at the local swimming pool which is where he mentioned the idea of setting up a Men’s shed. Tom didn’t set the shed up on his own. He had found that another local man, Frank Cousins, was also looking to set up a shed but couldn’t get the men to come together. Tom and Frank met and the rest is history.
At the beginning a premises is what the shed really needed. The original premises on Boot Rd was where they began but when the landlord raised the rent the men needed to find another home for their shed. They now reside at 22 Mayfield Court in a premises donated to them by Sister Kathleen Barrett who originally ran an after school club for local children there.
The shed has gone from strength to strength and currently has around 25 members, with at least 15 men attending on a regular basis Mon – Fri. An interesting and diverse shed Clondalkin Men’s Shed is always open to new members with the shed activities including woodwork, making Buddy benches, art and gardening.
Late 2019 the shed was asked to take on the management of a community garden by the Clondalkin Addiction Support Programme (CASP). The garden is quite beautiful and boasts a fine poly tunnel. The shed has grand plans for the garden and they are currently making beehives at the moment for it. In 2019 the shed was nominated and won The Pride of Place award. They are always willing to help out with their local community and should you need anything done feel free to contact them at any time.
New members are always welcome and for more information please see contacts listed or alternatively you can contact IMSA on 01 8916150