For a quarter of a century, John McKeon has been collecting seeds from the trees and hedgerows around his home near Castleblayney in Monaghan. The 75-year-old retired agricultural adviser has used them to grow more than twenty species of native tree, among them oak, holly, hazel and more. John's work is at the heart of 'Seeds of Inspiration', a project from the Irish Wildlife Trust and the Monaghan Biodiversity Office.

For a quarter of a century, John McKeon has been collecting seeds from the trees and hedgerows around his home near Castleblayney in Monaghan. The 75-year-old retired agricultural adviser has used them to grow more than twenty species of native tree, among them oak, holly, hazel and more. John's work is at the heart of 'Seeds of Inspiration', a project from the Irish Wildlife Trust and the Monaghan Biodiversity Office.

The CountryWide team feature the events, people and happenings that bring colour and life to communities, towns and villages across Ireland. Listen live Saturdays at 8am on RTÉ Radio 1.

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Seeds of Inspiration

8:00 am - CountryWide

9:00 am - CountryWide

Philip Boucher-Hayes and the CountryWide team feature the events, people and happenings that bring colour and life to communities, towns & villages across the country.

CountryWide - 24 October 2026

The Agriculture faculty in UCD is 100 years old this year. Philip meets their newly appointed Dean of Faculty, Professor Karina Pierce to find out what her department is doing to meet the challenges of the next 100 years 

The Agriculture faculty in UCD is 100 years old this year. Philip meets their newly appointed Dean of Faculty, Professor Karina Pierce to find out what her department is doing to meet the challenges of the next 100 years&nbsp;

Karina Pierce 

With EU funding for farming with nature in retreat is this the moment that private finance might fill the gap. Ronan Doherty has transferred his fundraising skills from the renewable energy sector to nature conservation with the charity Hometree. He believes we are the cusp of a breakthrough in private sector funding for high nature value farming. 

With EU funding for farming with nature in retreat is this the moment that private finance might fill the gap. Ronan Doherty has transferred his fundraising skills from the renewable energy sector to nature conservation with the charity Hometree. He believes we are the cusp of a breakthrough in private sector funding for high nature value farming.&nbsp;

Seeds of Inspiration

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