Patrick Barrett

Patrick Barrett grew up in Liscarroll, a small Irish village in Cork County, Ireland, where his parents founded Ireland's Donkey Sanctuary. As a teenager, Patrick joined the Irish Defence Force and served in Kosovo and Lebanon from 1998 to 2003, then worked at the Donkey Sanctuary for almost a decade. It was during this period that his life turned around and The Donkey Sanctuary became a place of refuge where Patrick made strong reconnections to nature, the land, his family, and the wisdom of the donkeys. He became a psychotherapist in 2016 and uses what he learned at the sanctuary in his work with men suffering from PTSD and addiction. In 2015, Patrick married his childhood sweetheart, Eileen, and together they have five children.