Above, Springfield Castle county Limerick, Ireland (our venue)
Ireland Creative Castle Retreat—we have added a second week and space is available for the dates of:
November 5-12, 2027 (8 days, 7 nights)
Springfield Castle, County Limerick, Ireland
Key Information:
November 5-12, 2027
Springfield Castle, County Limerick, Ireland
Prices range from $2700-$4350 depending on room type
Includes: Room & Board (2 large meals per day); Writing workshops with CMarie Fuhrman; activities & events
Does not include: transportation, airport transfers, alcohol
For more information, scroll down this page, or start with details, activities, workshops, food, or venue (rooms)
To reserve your spot or to ask a question, please fill out this form
For more information or to join, please fill in this form.
Prioritize your creativity and connect with the land of Ireland for a week November 5th-12th, 2027.
Join other creatives in a beautiful castle and take time to think and create inspired by this land with the option of publication of your work in an anthology. Organized by Lis McLoughlin of NatureCulture®/Writing the Land®. Writing workshop leader poet CMarie Fuhrman.
Beautiful Natural Surroundings: 200 acres of castle grounds including 400 year old trees, organic walled garden, sauna, and fire pit.
Publication of your work in an anthology (with approval)
Writing Workshops included with CMarie Fuhrman, as well as individual meetings with each participant.
All events included: Whisky Tasting; Storytelling and History of the Castle; Renaissance Feast; Traditional Irish Feast
Amazing local food: full Irish breakfast; a rotating menu including Fine Dining in a formal dining room; Fresh, local, convenient 2 course dinners to heat and eat at your convenience; Asado (BBQ), Irish Feast, planks and canapés, and Renaissance Feast. (vegetarian, gluten free and other food options available). Two large meals per day (except arrival day and last day, 1 meal each); other food available.
Lots of time to enjoy Nature—-all activities are optional and included in the price.
Airfare, liquor, and airport Transfers are not included
Prices range from $2700 to $4300 depending on type of accommodation
Writing & Connecting with the Land with CMarie Fuhrman
Get in Touch with Ireland
What happens when writing slows down enough to listen?
In these immersive workshops, writers will explore the connection between breath, line, and landscape — learning how attention to place deepens voice, sharpens imagery, and opens new creative possibilities.
Led by award winning poet and essayist CMarie Fuhrman, these sessions invite participants to write lyrically and fearlessly, engaging the senses as a gateway to deeper knowing. Together, we will explore how the natural world shapes language — how rhythm echoes walking, how breath determines line, and how paying close attention allows a piece of writing to come alive on the page.
Through generative prompts, close attention to craft, and supportive conversation, writers will:
Practice writing rooted in sensory detail and embodied experience
Explore line, breath, and pacing as expressive tools
Learn to write from curiosity rather than certainty
Deepen their connection to place as both witness and participant
Take creative risks in a generative, encouraging environment
Participants will also have the opportunity for individual meetings with CMarie to discuss current work, questions of craft, and personal creative direction.
These workshops are designed for writers at all stages — anyone longing to slow down, listen closely, and create work that feels more alive, more present, and more deeply connected to the world around them.
About the workshop leader, CMarie Fuhrman
CMarie Fuhrman is an award-winning multi-genre writer and educator whose work serves as both a love letter to and an advocacy for the Western landscape. Born and raised in the shadow of the Rockies, she was introduced to wild places by parents who lived close to the land, instilling in her an early understanding of Ethical Interdependence. For over a decade, she has resided in the Salmon River Mountains of Idaho, a place that has become inherent to her identity and the heartbeat of her art.
CMarie’s writing often works at the seams of Indigenous understanding and Western experience, exploring where the destruction of the land and the erasure of Native women’s bodies are painfully mirrored. Through her poetry and her columns for The Inlander, she concerns herself with the persistence of Native issues and the shared vulnerabilities of beings and place.
She is the author of the acclaimed Salmon Weather: Writing from the Land of No Return, as well as I Took You With Me: Collected Columns and the poetry chapbook Camped Beneath the Dam. She has co-edited two landmark, award-winning anthologies: Cascadia Field Guide: Art, Ecology, and Poetry and Native Voices: Indigenous Poetry, Craft, and Conversations. Her current creative work continues to explore the intersections of identity, including an eco-romance and her forthcoming memoir, Cowbird,which reflects on her journey as a bi-racial (Native and Eastern European) adoptee navigating the complexities of heritage and belonging.
Beyond the page, CMarie is the host of Terra Firma, a Colorado Public Radio program, and a former Idaho Writer in Residence. She is the founder of the Confluence Writing Community and the Director of the Elk River Writers Workshop, organizations dedicated to fostering the next generation of voices at the intersection of art and ecology. A seasonal fire lookout and a devoted advocate for wild rivers and grizzlies, she serves as the Associate Director and Poetry Concentration Director for the Graduate Program in Creative Writing at Western Colorado University where she is faculty for nature writing and poetry. Whether mending narratives or advocating for the land, CMarie’s work is a testament to the belief that our stories and the earth are one.
What will we be doing? Schedule (all events are optional—-feel free to make this retreat your own……)
Day 1: Friday November 5, 2027
Arrive! Catered 3 course fine dining welcome dinner together in our lovely dining room. Orientation: meet one another, optionally form writing groups. Settle in, or head out to stargaze--up to you.
Day 2: Saturday November 6, 2027
8:00am-10:30am Continental breakfast.
Writing workshop with CMarie Fuhrman. See workshop page for more details.
Catered 2 course dinner dropped off for you to eat on your own schedule.
Event: Irish Storytelling event with nibbles and wine. Stories about the history of the castle and further afield from local storytellers.
Day 3: Sunday November 7, 2027
8:00am-10:30am Cooked Irish breakfast.
Writing workshop with CMarie Fuhrman. See workshop page for more details.
Free Writing Time—join with your writing group or work on your own, explore the grounds, etc. Entirely at your discretion.
Fine dining: 3 course catered dinner
Evening: enjoy a bonfire together outside.
Day 4: Monday November 8, 2027
8:00am-10:30am Continental breakfast.
Writing workshop with CMarie Fuhrman. See workshop page for more details.
Free Writing Time—join with your writing group or work on your own, explore the grounds, etc. Entirely at your discretion.
Catered 2 course dinner dropped off for you to eat on your own schedule.
Event: Whisky tasting; includes nibbles too.
Day 5: Tuesday November 9, 2027
8:00am-10:30am Continental breakfast.
Writing workshop with CMarie Fuhrman. See workshop page for more details.
Free Writing Time—join with your writing group or work on your own, explore the grounds, etc. Entirely at your discretion.
Renaissance Feast for dinner! Costumes and feasting….
Day 6: Wednesday November 10, 2027
8:00am-10:30am Cooked breakfast.
Writing workshop with CMarie Fuhrman. See workshop page for more details.
Free Writing Time—join with your writing group or work on your own, explore the grounds, etc. Entirely at your discretion.
Bar-B-Q party (outside if weather permits)
Day 7: Thursday November 11th, 2027
8:00am-10:30am Continental breakfast.
Free Writing Time—join with your writing group or work on your own, explore the grounds, etc. Entirely at your discretion.
Sharing of writing together.
Dinner: Traditional Irish feast!
Day 8: Friday November 12, 2027
8:00am-10:30am Full cooked breakfast.
Travel and Goodbye….
Food
Special diets can be accommodated. Food is local and fresh, much of it grown on-site at the castle or nearby….
Rooms
We are renting the entire castle and its medieval tour! Built in 1280, the castle contains a variety of rooms to choose from…. To see what rooms are available, move to this page.
Local food
Having trouble picturing it? View Our Map
The Fine Print:
Who may attend: You
Authors at any stage of their career are welcome. Whether you are hoping to make progress on an existing project or be inspired to start something new, this retreat provides a time apart to focus on….. whatever you’re drawn to do!
Prices depend on accommodation type (please note these are in US dollars): Please fill out the form to register. Thank you!
What is Included: 8 day writing retreat at Springfield Castle in County Limerick, Ireland (castle first founded in the year 1280)
Accommodations: we will be staying all together in the castle and tower. We will be the only group there. Choose your particular room. They vary from $2700 shared room shared bath to $4350 private room private bath. Our group will be 15-17 people, with the possible participation (or partial participation) of up to 7 significant others.
2 meals every day (except arrival and departure days: dinner upon arrival day, breakfast upon departure day). Special diets will be accommodated; other local food is available for purchase if desired, but the 2 meals will be quite large!
Optional peer writing groups (grouped by genre or interest, there will be signups)
Included workshops: 3 writing workshops with CMarie Fuhrman. See the workshop page for more details.
Included events: Irish storytelling; whisky tasting; Irish Feast; Renaissance Feast (with costumes!); bonfire; BBQ party.
Other activities available at the castle: Sauna, Hot tub, plunge pool, tennis, games, 200 acres of private grounds with some trees up to 400 years old.
Add-on: photography workshop (will not interfere with other workshops) ($100) Photographer Andreas Riemenschneider
Add-on:Photos/headshots: have your professional photos taken by our favorite Professional Irish Photographer Andreas Riemenschneider An excellent option for anyone needing to update their headshots, or curious about taking great photos in this beautiful place.
Other surprises——we will keep adding things as we have them :)
Not Included:
Flights/airport transfers
Transportation in Ireland—-our retreat is self-contained at the castle; there are options for taxis & shuttles to see sites.
Alcohol/drinks
Flight Info:
There are several airports to choose from. Shannon (SNN) is the most convenient,. Flights from the east coast of the US range between $500 to $1500 round trip depending on timing and airport, but please do your own research on this, it’s so variable and not easy to predict into 2027. Dublin (DUB) is probably the least expensive to fly into, but also the farthest away from the castle (3 hours by car or take the train to Charleville and order pickup by taxi from there to the castle; the train-taxi solution is about $170 each way); Shannon (SNN) (1 hr 15 minutes by car). Airport Taxis quoted me euros 170 each way for up to 4 people Shannon airport to castle but if you have a lot of luggage you may need a bigger car which increases the price. We had a good experience with this company getting us to Doolin in 2025, but there are other companies too.
The Fine Print….Note that payments are not refundable—-we suggest you purchase travel insurance.
Details: Terms: We ask you to pay in stages (although you can always pay up front in 1 lump sum or sooner than requested). There are no refunds unless the retreat is cancelled, in which case a full refund will be given.
Stage 1: A non-refundable (but transferable by you if you know someone you would like to make arrangements with, before January 1, 2026—if we have to find a replacement for you, your deposit is not refundable) deposit of $400 will reserve your space and your chosen room when booking. People in private rooms can add a significant other sharing their queen/king sized bed for $1500 (no extra deposit needed)
Stage 2: October 1, 2026 1/2 payment required.
Stage 3: Full payment required January 7, 2027 (or upon reservation if added after this date), after which date no refunds or transfers will be given unless the retreat is cancelled. Insurance for a long trip like this is recommended in case something happens and you can’t make it.
If the retreat is cancelled a full refund will be given. All participants will need to sign an indemnity form.