Aonghus Ó Coistealbha agreed it was ‘mad’ to venture outside as Storm Éowyn was doing its worst around South Conamara last Friday week – but he has no regrets.

It was 3am as the storm raged, when the organic farmer and a volunteer went outside to save An Garraí Glas organic farm in Baile na hAbhann from the might of Éowyn.

Though risky, their efforts helped limit the damage to the farm that was established in Indreabhán in 2013.

“I’ve put twelve or thirteen years into this, so I had to do something. I don’t regret it. I didn’t get a bang on the head, either,” Aonghus recalled.

They cut plastic on two of the polytunnels, which helped save the frames. A third polytunnel, a plant nursery, was damaged by slates flying from nearby buildings.

“We lost three out of four tunnels. One of them was a production tunnel so there was nothing growing in it but the other two were full of salads that would’ve brought in €4,000 or €5,000 over January, February, March, and some of April, too,” he said.

“The crops are gone, which is a shame. But it’s the right time of the year and we are not going to lose out on seeding for Spring 2025 crops.”

An Garraí Glas started selling veg and salads on the side-of-the-road but is now a busy spot with several businesses – and a staff of six – relying on it.

Since they started supplying hospitality from 2016 it has built up a loyal customer base of 17 shops and 17 restaurants, including some of Galway’s best like Póta in Indreabhán, Kai back the West and Blackrock Cottage in Salthill.

Aonghus had patrolled, surveyed, and secured the polytunnels before the storm hit but Éowyn was too powerful to escape unscathed.

Now, with the help of GoFundMe, An Garraí Glas has raised more than €18,000 to help it get back on its feet.

This vital online fundraiser will cover the cost of lost winter crops, pay for new seed and compost for springtime sowing, and repair plastic, doors, and frames on the polytunnels.

One of the tunnels damaged by Éowyn was a mini nursery where vegetable plants such as lettuce and beetroot are grown to be sold to people who replant them in their own gardens.

This will reopen in March thanks to the generosity of online donors, most of whom initially were from outside Galway or abroad because locals either hadn’t heard of the appeal or couldn’t donate because they had no power or internet.

“I’ll be building back stronger and better, so it won’t happen again. You kind of forget how amazing people are. This is going to give us so much energy going forward into the new season. We need to be as good as we can be because we were really looked after,” Aonghus said.

Pictured: Some of the damage caused by Storm Éowyn to organic farm, An Garraí Glas in Baile na hAbhann in South Conamara. A GoFundMe page raised over €18,000 to help farmer Aonghus Ó Coistealbha get the farm back on its feet.