Texts for media:
The Forest Midwife
short blurb
The Forest Midwife
Featuring voiceover by actor Mary McEvoy
After Covid, Dublin writer Catherine Cleary buys a dead farm and plants 27,000 native trees. Guided by the voice of an ancient Ash Tree, her midlife act of ecological repair transforms both the land and herself.
In The Forest Midwife, filmmaker Beta Bajgart follows writer and social entrepreneur Catherine Cleary on her extraordinary journey to transform 30 acres of neglected farmland in Roscommon into a thriving native woodland. What begins as one woman’s midlife calling becomes a poetic story about renewal, courage, mothering, and our fragile relationship with the land.
Through the film we hear a voice of an ancient speaking ash tree written by Kerri Ní Dochartaigh and voiced by Mary McEvoy that weaves intimate interviews with Catherine, her family, neighbours, and local farmers and revealing the tensions, hopes, and humour within Ireland’s afforestation debate.
Blending documentary realism with lyrical storytelling, The Forest Midwife reflects on what it means to root oneself in nature, to listen to the earth, and to plant for generations yet to come.
The film premiered at the Light House Cinema in Dublin and has since been screened across Ireland, including at TU Dublin, Galway University, and Wicklow. There are over 27,000 trees now growing in Corry, near Hillstreet and they are a reminder that healing the planet begins with listening and respect to nature.
The Forest Midwife
long blurb
The Forest Midwife
Film, featuring voiceover by actor Mary McEvoy
A documentary film, The Forest Midwife follows writer and social entrepreneur Catherine Cleary and her work over the last year to transform a piece of land in Roscommon into a forest and nature reserve. The documentary by filmmaker and photographer Beta Bajgart, was inspired by last year’s piece in the Irish Times magazine about the project.
After Beta read the piece she approached Catherine, who she knows through the local neighbourhood in Dublin. The film includes interviews with family, friends and Catherine’s new neighbours. It explores the motivations, challenges and debate about afforestation in rural Ireland. The film also includes a specially commissioned written work by poet and author Kerri ni Dochartaigh, to bring to life the voice of a large ash tree, one of the oldest existing trees on the farm. The piece is voiced in the film by actor Mary McEvoy.
As a filmmaker Beta believes the Arts have a very important role to play in engaging people on the climate and biodiversity debate. The farm, in Corry, near Hillstreet, was bought by Catherine and her family and she has now planted a native woodland of more than 27,000 trees. Filmaker Beta Bajgart said: "The story of the documentary centres on Catherine’s work on the farm in Roscommon, but it’s more than a documentary promoting planting trees. Ultimately, it is a story about a woman who listens to her midlife calling, and about a relationship between humans and trees. It touches on a sensitive topic of farming and land ownership in Ireland and honours the hardship of working the land."
Actor Mary McEvoy, who grew up in a farming family in Co Westmeath, said:“I don’t usually do voiceovers for documentaries but this one was particularly close to my heart because I feel very much for trees and for the environment. It was aligned with my values, I found it extremely welcome and it was an honour to work on this." "I thought the script was absolutely beautiful, it’s so poetic and very moving. And I felt it really expressed well the relationship between trees and man. I think we have to start thinking about art for humanity’s sake which automatically includes the environment, rather than art for art’s sake. From what I know about living in farming and rural areas, I think more effort has to be made not to go over peoples’ heads."
Award winning author Kerry Ní Dochartaigh, who is now living in Clare said: “This was an absolute dream commission, and one I thoroughly enjoyed. I have been writing about trees, their voices, and hearts, and souls for some time, but to be working with Beta and the team exploring these ideas through the tree herself was very special indeed…" The film has been featured on RTÉ’s CountryWide, the Irish Examiner’s Mick Clifford Podcast, the Irish Farmer’s Journal, and more. It premiered at the Light House Cinema in Dublin and has since been successfully screened at TU Dublin, Galway University, and in Mullingar, Roscommon, and Wicklow.
