The Butterfly Effect: A Community Project in Bray

zoom

Edible Bray’s new project

Imagine strolling around Bray and noticing the number of butterflies floating around….For more than a decade, Edible Bray have been creating a trail of public planting around the town of Bray. This includes planting fruit, herbs, vegetables and flowers to feed birds, bees, butterflies and people too, at different sites around Bray. Six of their main sites can be found at the Albert Walk, the Recycling Centre, Boghall Road, the Fairy field beside Aravon Court, The Mermaid, Connolly Square and at Common Ground, Church Terrace.

Edible Bray are launching a new project called The Butterfly Effect on the 20th and 21st
May 2026 in Bray Library, Eglinton Road. Wild pollinators like bees, butterflies and hoverflies are essential for healthy ecosystems and food production. Yet many species are in decline due to pressures such as habitat loss, pesticide use and climate change. The good news is that, working together as a community, we can help reverse this decline by planting flowers that attract butterflies and other pollinating insects.

The Butterfly Effect

The butterfly effect is a concept where minor, seemingly insignificant actions—like a butterfly flapping its wings— cause significant changes in long-term outcomes. It also highlights our interdependence in and on nature.

Community Meitheal

Edible Bray has organised a Meitheal (an ancient Irish term for a cooperative labour system
where neighbours gather to help with major tasks) to get this project off the ground. Everyone who is interested can come along and help with this task. They will be given free,
specially selected seeds of flowers that attract butterflies and asked to plant them in the pots and compost provided. People will be asked to take home these pots and look after them until they germinate a fewweeks later. When the plants are ready, another Meitheal will be called to plant the flowers in the 6 sites mentioned above and any left-over can be planted in people’s own gardens. It’s a great fun way to learn more about gardening for free, meet your neighbours and do our bit for the environment.

As Mary Robinson said “We do not live alone on this land; true stewardship means making
room for nature to flourish alongside us.”

So come along and be part of this great initiative!

It will take place between 1-2 pm in Bray Library, Eglinton Road on Wednesday 20th May
and an evening session on Thursday 21st May from 7-8pm in Bray Library, Eglinton Road.