Today, November 19th, is International Men’s Day. To celebrate the occasion, Limerick Voice visited Dooradoyle Raheen Men’s Shed to talk about the initiative and see how it helps men in the local community.
Here, men can meet up, socialise and share a wide range of skills from woodworking to music. There are over 450 men’s shed’s across the country, which attract 10,000 visitors per week. Founder of Dooradoyle Raheen Men’s Shed Sean Dalton explains:
“This is a safe place for men to meet and share their skills. I’ve learned an awful lot from other guys, if one guy’s able to play music, he’ll show the others, and the guy who knows woodworking shows the others.”
“It’s been a huge thing for me, and it’s helped my confidence quite a lot because I find that when you’re not doing anything, your confidence slips.”
Dalton founded the shed after finding himself bored with retirement. “I found that, particularly in the suburbs of the city, there wasn’t an awful lot for men to do. About eight or nine years ago, I saw Men’s Sheds had started in Australia. I saw the template and thought this is a really good idea. I come from a small village myself where there would be a sense of community, and I thought perhaps we’d be able to build one here.”
The shed’s members are primarily made up of fellow retirees, but not exclusively, as Dalton points out. “Anybody can join a Men’s Shed. What a lot of people don’t realise is that it’s open to all age groups.
”It’s more attractive to retirees because they have probably more time on their hands. But we also have a few people who are working from home and found it quite isolating, and they’ve now joined the Men’s Shed where they can meet people, interact with people, and they’re enjoying it too.”
The sense of community Dalton created was palpable with a warm, friendly atmosphere radiating throughout the room as members talked, laughed, squared off in pool tournaments and played music together.
Dooradoyle Raheen Men’s Shed founder Sean Dalton (Photo: Saul Mezzapelle)
He notes how the community spirit found in Men’s Sheds, like the one in Dooradoyle, is greatly beneficial to mental health, which men often have a hard time opening up about. “There’s no pressure on anybody like that [to open up]. We occasionally bring speakers in from mental health groups and people then start to talk.
“People start to make friends, and one thing that happens as you get older or retire is you lose a lot of friends, but you make a lot of new friends in the Men’s Shed.”
Seamus Scott, coordinator of the Limerick branch, adds “It’s all about sharing and giving something back to the community as well.
“It gives people a sense of meaning and belonging. The benefits are unlimited. They determine what they can do, and how long is a piece of string as they say, you can go as far as you want and do as much as you want, it’s great.”
Scott is responsible for guiding and helping new sheds that are set up independently by members of the public such as Dalton. Currently there are 24 sheds across Limerick city and county.
“Any Men’s Shed is essentially like a club, like the GAA for example. It’s a fantastic setup. It’s spread like wildfire around the world, but particularly in Ireland.
“It’s met a need for men that wasn’t being met before. What makes it successful are the activities and the support. It works both ways. The lads in here support the community, and the community supports them.”
From chatting with some of the members, it was clear to see why men’s shed’s have “spread like wildfire” as Scott puts it. One member, Bernard Walsh, explained:
“For someone who’s living alone, it’s obviously great to get out and meet other people. People normally only have the pubs to go to after they retire. The men’s shed here has given me an opportunity to open up to people more, and to mix with them. I really enjoy it.”
Another member, Tom Williams, reflects on how the shed has developed over the last number of years.
“I initially got involved in it in 2018, and at that time we hadn’t any money or organisation as such. Since then, it has developed very nicely, and you can see from looking around there how well we all get on together. The thing I like about the sheds is that you go in, you have your fun, you have your cup of tea, your game of pool, or you play a bit of music, and nobody’s inquiring “Who are you? Do you have children, money?”, there’s none of that, it’s just a bit of fun.”
Tom also spoke highly of the shed’s classes on chair yoga and how to use computers and mobile phones.
The Men’s Shed also provides members with physical health benefits as well as mental. Through a link with the HSE, members often receive talks on healthy eating and nutrition. Dentists also call in sometimes for checks, as well as representatives from the Irish Blood Transfusion Service to check for issues such as high blood pressure.
“They might detect something and save a life” Seamus Scott says. “Men are not good at going to the dentist or the doctor or the pharmacy or whatever, they need a little bit of a push.” Dooradoyle Raheen Men’s Shed also provides yoga and tai chi classes to help local men stay fit.
You can discover more about Men’s Shed here.
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