ghlór mná is a writing for wellbeing community for women and mothers in the west of Ireland. Not a writing class. Not therapy. The space between, where words are the tool and connection is the point.
A space to remember how to play.
☀️ leave a little lighter
☀️ leave a little lighter
come as you are
leave a little lighter
I sat in a room full of mothers feeling completely alone, not because the room was empty. But because nobody was saying the true thing.
I left that room and decided to build a different one.
Because its not just mothers who feel this. Its women who have forgotten how to play for the sake of it, and how to be back in their body. Women who have not written anything for themselves in years.
Women are busy being everything to everyone that they have stopped checking in with themselves entirely.
ghlór mná is a space to write, reflect and remember how to be joyful.
My work sits at the intersection of wellbeing and creative play. Our workshops are a chance for you to slow down long enough to ask, who am I underneath all of this, and what brings her joy?
You don’t have to be a writer, an artist or even identify as a creative. You just have to be willing to show up. We all have the innate ability to play. Let’s find it again.
ghlór|mná
voice|women
The voice that has been waiting for a room safe enough to speak.
This is that room, and you’re very welcome here.
upcoming events
+ workshops
Join Ghlór Mna x The Wine Grove Castlebar for an intimate evening of creative play, writing, and charcuterie.
Pull, paint, prompt: the tarot is an intimate evening of meditation, open ended art and guided writing centered around tarot and intuition.
The evening will include some gentle breath and meditation followed by intuitive art inspired by your card.
We’ll enjoy charcuterie and 0.0% bubbles, before moving into a guided creative writing session.
All materials are provided, and no experience is necessary.
Location: The Wine Grove, Market Square, Castlebar, Co. Mayo, F23 A497
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Your story matters, no matter how ordinary you think it is.
behind ghlór mná
ghlór mná is a writing and play centered community for women
We create intimate, held spaces where women can write, reflect, play and connect, with themselves and each other.
Our events are not writing classes. Not therapy. They are something in between, where the page becomes the place you can finally put down what you have been carrying.
Our work is grounded in the Lapidus International writing for wellbeing framework and the Pennebaker expressive writing research, which has been shown across more than two hundred peer-reviewed studies to improve mental health, reduce anxiety, strengthen immune function and support emotional processing. We believe creativity is not a talent reserved for certain people. It is a human function. And we believe that writing your story, however ordinary you think it is, is one of the most powerful things you can do for yourself.
About Claire
Claire Kelly is the founder and lead facilitator of Ghlór Mná. She is a published author, a writing for wellbeing practitioner and a Lapidus International member. Claire is a student of Creative Change at Crawford School of Art and Design, and her workshops are modelled on the Lapidus guidelines, the Pennebaker protocol, creative storytelling and NLP.
Claire has facilitated writing and wellbeing events including sold-out workshops across Mayo. Her work has been published in the Westival anthology and she writes semi-regularly over on Substack at claairekellyy.substack.com.
A gentle note on what we are not
Ghlór Mná is a writing for wellbeing community and not a therapy service.
Our sessions are not a substitute for professional mental health support, and we do suggest if you are experiencing a mental health crisis please reach out to your GP or the Samaritans on 116 123, free and available twenty four hours a day.
We also have a library of resources available over on our instagram @ghlormna.women
testimonials
“Wonderful day Claire. Amazing how relaxed and laid back everything was. Lovely build up to the writing. Didn’t think I would write a word and ended up writing loads. Thank you so much”
“Thank you for a beautiful day. I loved all the connection and guidance xx”
“I didn’t realise how much I was carrying until now. Thank you”
“Thank you for showing me and reminding me that I can drop into myself, no matter the noise of the world!
Loved every part, especially the writing”
“You never want it to end, I feel lighter already”
“Wonderful program 🙌 Loved the theme of holy mountain & ocean”
“Slowing down may feel like a sacrifice in progress’ — a quote from the card I pulled and I’ll keep for the next while with me 🙂 Something I struggle with and a lesson I’m learning so I’ll take that with me from today”