...medicinal herbs garden

on Donegal's Wild Atlantic Way

Home: Welcome

Meabh

The workshop was a lovely day from start to finish. Columbia shared information with passion and warmth. Despite being familiar with the herbs, I learned a lot more about how they can support my health. The food was delicious, the company was lovely and I came away with lots of treats. I'm looking forward to attending more workshops at Anam Cara.

Yvonne

The workshop was excellent, really enjoyable. Making immunity boosting syrup with rosemary, pine and bay laurel was a highlight for me, especially important right now in the middle of winter. I also liked how Columbia integrated healing herbs into food recipes. Introducing herbs into tasty dishes, even into soups and teas. It’s a great way to stay healthy.

Marie

Thank you Columbia for such a fantastic day, and welcoming us into your lovely home. It was a gentle balance of informal and informative, and I left feeling nourished mind, body and soul. Your passion for herbal medicine shone through which provoked real consideration of what is possible when treating disease in a holistic manner. The gifted herbs and recipes were a lovely touch and I shall be using them all enthusiastically. This is a wonderful event for anyone interested in medicinal plants and I would highly recommend it.

AnneMarie

I would like to express my gratitude for your kindness in inviting us into your home to experience this inspiring Herbal Medicine Making workshop.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to, learning and talking about herbs, particularly the ones that were focused on today, interestingly, as they are grown locally to this area, which you pointed out in your own garden.

I would also like to mention the scrumptious food that you provided for lunch, educating us of the nourishing properties within the herbs that were used.

The whole experience was such a pleasure, the relaxed atmosphere, ease of conversation, the food and enjoyment of the practical hands on making herbal tonics and sweets.

It was simply an excellent afternoon.

Diane

The recent workshop, led by Columbia Hillen, was an engaging and practical experience that beautifully combined learning and creativity. Columbia's expertise and approachable teaching style made it easy to explore the properties of various herbs, their health benefits, and sustainable sourcing from her very own herbal remedy garden. The hands-on portion was a highlight, as we crafted our own herbal recipes, including Bay Laurel and Rosemary tea, a delicious winter syrup, and Grá balls. It was an informative and inspiring session that left me confident and excited to incorporate herbal remedies into daily life.

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Columbia Hillen

Medical Herbalist

I don’t really remember a time when plants were not an important part of my life.

Love for them and their healing powers must be in my genes.

I grew up with a Romanian grandmother who solved most problems, physical and psychological, with plants such as mugwort, St. John’s Wort or yarrow. In turn, my mother has also always nourished plants, growing all sorts on the balcony of our modest apartment in the small rural town of Viseu, in northern Transylvania.

As a child, my favorite hobby was to pretend I was cooking a meal using leaves, roots, and even different types of dirt. If effect, whatever I could find in my grandmother’s courtyard. Most of the time, I would slip into a dreamlike state when ‘cooking,’ finding the experience both relaxing and invigorating.

For me now, having undergone training as a medical herbalist, matching and marrying herbs feels like cooking. Or more accurately, a combination of cooking and perfume-making - another interest I’ve developed while traveling the length and breadth of southern France visiting different perfumeries and taking courses on the craft in England.

A lover of travel (See some of my photos on Worlditineraries.co), I have been fortunate to visit many countries over the last twenty years and one way I remember them is through the plants I discovered there. I feel a rush of childlike joy when I see new plants I’ve never seen before. It’s like meeting new friends, as well as re-acquainting myself with old, familiar ones.

I experience life mainly through my sense of smell and taste. I nibble my way along hiking trails and, if given the chance in restaurants, I ask the chefs a million questions about what herbs and ingredients they use.

While enjoying the aroma of herbs and learning about their healing properties, I also admire their shape and colour and photograph them whenever possible (See some of my photos on on columbiahillenphotography.com)

Having completed a five-year training at The Plant Medicine School in Ireland, I am now enjoying sharing my knowledge in workshops and events at my wild herb garden on the Wild Atlantic Way in Donegal, northwestern Donegal.

As a member of the Irish Register of Herbalists in Ireland, I am honoured to have been offered the role of Social Media Coordinator.

I am grateful to all - more than one hundred types of plants, used for medicinal purposes since ancient times - who accepted my invitation to make this their home.