Meet Our Team

The Irish Seed Savers Team

The work involved here is enormous and we really welcome any support or help you would like to give us..... Our staff are highly skilled and specially trained and are now ready to pass on their knowledge and experience. We are able to offer a wide range of training courses to suit you or your organisations needs. Our staff are also available to give talks or demonstrations to interested parties.

The Irish Seed Savers Team

Chrys Gardener

Chrys Gardener (Project Manager)

Chrys Gardener relocated from Ithaca, NY to County Clare in early 2008, in part because of the mild Irish climate that allows for year-round gardening. In America she was the manager for various gardening programs, including a community gardening project for low-income families and a county tourism beautification program. Since moving to Ireland Chrys and her husband have established an organic landscaping business and are members of the Ennis Farmers Market, selling homegrown vegetables from their small market garden.

Eoin Keane (Orchard coordinator)

Eoin Keane

Eoin hails from Offaly. With a background in Industrial Engineering he started his career with a year in the busy industrial estates of China. The love of the land and the outdoors brought him to the Irish Seed Savers in 2008, as a volunteer at first, on summer holidays from a factory engineering job in Galway. Eoin comes from a farming background and is passionate about trees and woodwork. At the ISSA, he spent most of his time working in the orchards, but now has become the Orchard coordinator.

Matteo Petitti (Garden Coordinator)

Matteo Petitti

Leaving the hills of Tuscany for the hills of East-Clare, Matteo booked a one way ticket to Ireland after graduating in Agricultural science in the University of Florence. He has been living in Clare for the past three years and has been working with the Irish Seedsavers since 2008 being the Orchard coordinator since 2009, now he is the garden coordinator.

Joanne Newton (Seed bank Coordinator)

Joanne Newton

Jo started working at the Irish Seed Savers Association back in 2001 with her role taking her from Orchard worker, gardener to coordinating the seed bank. Currently she is Curator of the collection and mentor to new staff members. She has plenty of practical experience, in organic growing, having run her own market garden and small holding in Clare for 15 years. She is also very active in sharing her knowledge teaching workshops such as the Organic Gardening Courses here at Irish Seed Savers, in addition to workshops on sustainable land use.

Heidi Lammiman (Website Moderator)

Heidi Lammiman

Heidi moved here in 1995 from North Yorkshire. Her job here at the Irish Seed Savers Association began in 1996 when the project was first started in County Clare. Firstly, in the garden, now she works in the office on a part time basis, primarily on the website.

Valerie Keogh (Subscription administrator)

Valerie Keogh

Valerie moved to Clare from Dublin in 2007, and has strong family ties to Tipperary (so is a country girl at heart!). Her past life was in finance and stockbroking. She is a fully qualified holistic therapist and reflexologist (mmmm!). Valerie takes care of our supporters database, administration and wears several other hats within the organisation. She loves the feedback we receive from our supporters which is so positive and encouraging, and very different from her previous role in finance.

Patti Leigh-Cook

Patti joined the Irish Seed Savers Association in 2008. She works full time as our receptionist and is responsible for greeting customers, workshop administration, fruit tree and soft fruit sales, and is our voluteer coordinator. She is also one of our two resident beekeepers.Patti is originally from Canada, but moved here to Ireland with her family in 2003. She may wear many hats, but can always BEE found around with a friendly greeting and a smile.

Felice Rae

Felice Rae has been here in Ireland for the past 23 years on the shores of Lough Derg and has been working at the Irish Seed Savers Association since 1999. She loves her job in the gardens propagating the soft fruit and also works with the seeds. Recently she has taken on facilitating the groups from Enable Ireland in our Horticultural Therapy Unit and also enjoys working alongside the new volunteers . Felice is a really great people person.