Why We Exist
Ireland currently has around 2,500 council allotments. In the 1940s, when wartime food security was a priority, there were 40,000. That’s a 94% collapse — not through any policy decision, but through passive neglect as land got repurposed.
The result: waiting lists of up to 10 years at Dublin’s most popular sites. Fingal County Council has closed its Powerstown and Turvey allotments to new applicants entirely. South Dublin’s sites are waitlisted indefinitely. Cork City runs 2–3 year waits at €1/m².
Meanwhile, Ireland has hundreds of thousands of gardens, farms, and plots with unused growing space. Suburban back gardens with nobody using the far end. Retired farmers with land sitting idle. Church grounds with space for raised beds.
Homegrown.ie exists to connect those two groups — without waiting for the government to build more council allotments.
What We Do
Plot-Share Marketplace
Landowners list unused growing space — a corner of a garden, a section of farmland, a churchyard plot, a school garden out of term. Growers browse and connect directly.
No waiting list. No council bureaucracy. You could be planting this season.
Allotment Tracker
Ireland’s most up-to-date council allotment tracker. We collect waiting-list data from all 31 local authorities and crowdsource wait times from people who have applied.
If you’re on a waiting list, submit your wait time. It helps every grower in Ireland understand what they’re facing.
The Ireland Grows Campaign
The government promised councils a planning framework for allotments by December 2023. It’s now May 2026. It still hasn’t arrived.
We’re running a campaign to pressure the government to publish those overdue guidelines — and to make every council publish an allotment plan.
Grow-Your-Own Guides
Irish-specific content for growers at every level — from first-time gardeners to people making the switch to a plot-share arrangement. Seasonal calendars, beginner guides, cost calculators.
Our Data Sources
The allotment tracker and waiting-list data comes from three sources:
We update the tracker when new data comes in. If your council's data is wrong or missing, email us.
Our Partners and Allies
Homegrown.ie is the consumer-facing marketplace. These are the NGOs, educators, and researchers doing the policy and advocacy work:
We complement Community Gardens Ireland’s legislative lobbying by providing a practical solution that works today. We complement GIY Ireland’s growing education by helping people access space to actually grow. We link to Teagasc’s soil, plant, and growing research as the authoritative Irish horticultural source.
Timeline
- April 2026 — Homegrown.ie launches as Ireland’s first plot-share marketplace, with the allotment tracker and initial growing guides.
- May 2026 — Allotment tracker expanded with data from all 31 councils; crowdsourced submissions form goes live; new blog article covers the 3-years-overdue government guidelines.
- May 2026 — Ireland Grows campaign launches on homegrown.ie. Petition targets the Minister for Housing to publish the overdue allotment planning guidelines.
- Next — Monthly newsletter, county hub pages, and marketplace listings as the campaign grows the email list.
Affiliate & Commercial Disclosure
Homegrown.ie is a for-profit project. We intend to earn money through:
- Affiliate commissions on links to Irish gardening retailers (clearly marked as
rel="sponsored") - Optional premium listings for landowners
- Newsletter sponsorship from relevant Irish businesses
- A percentage commission on completed plot-share rentals via the marketplace (to be implemented)
Our editorial content is not influenced by commercial relationships. We include retailers and partners because they’re genuinely useful to Irish growers, not because they pay us. Teagasc, CGI, and GIY Ireland are listed as resources with no commercial relationship of any kind.
Get in Touch
Data corrections, partnership enquiries, press, or anything else — drop us an email.
hello@homegrown.ie