Meet the Founder

Cormac Noonan, Founder and CEO

Cormac has trained under some of the world's leading coaches when it comes to wellbeing and human development and he believes in the importance of finding a holistic approach to education.

Cormac started Wolf Academy in 2020 with the aim to transform wellbeing education in Ireland and has since reached over 10,000 students across 23 counties.

Cormac's current focus is working with organisations in the EU to deliver training to teachers and principals in effective wellness strategies for their schools. He also trains Wolf Academy facilitators to provide workshops to students across Ireland.

Meet the Facilitators

Yvonne Doherty

Having experienced anxiety, depression and an eating disorder throughout her teens, Yvonne spent a long time with no confidence, self-esteem or even hope. When she hit rockbottom at about 18, she began a journey of recovering her true self and overcoming every one of these challenges.

After fully recovering, Yvonne had a newfound sense of connection, purpose and enthusiasm for life that she was passionate about sharing. With the intention of helping others change how they use their minds and become more empowered and free in life too.

Jana Hopp

From the age of 17 until 26 Jana experienced a strongly distorted view of who she thought she was at her core. Thoughts like ‘I shouldn't be so sensitive’, ‘I am inherently wrong the way I am’, ‘do I have a right to exist?’ were tormenting her and became the breeding ground for anxiety, depression, numbness & an absolute fear of life itself.

When she came across Self-Inquiry, she got to celebrate true clarity about who she actually is in her body and mind. With Integrated Self-Inquiry along with Art & Dance, Jana is inviting you back home to yourself.

Níall Kane

Níall's experience as a primary school teacher, Holistic Lifestyle Coach, and yoga instructor has equipped him with the knowledge and tools to co-create Wolf Academy's primary school workshops.

Niall is passionate about empowering and inspiring students and teachers to take control of their health and well-being. His own personal health challenges have fostered a deeper sense of empathy and compassion, enabling him to connect with others and meet them where they are.

Sonachú O'Callaghan Broe

Sonachú cares deeply about supporting people to express themselves authentically. For a long time, she had an unhappy relationship with herself and suffered with very low confidence. This led her to therapy at the age of seventeen which gave her the support and confidence to embrace her true self and find the courage to express herself through writing, dance and creativity.

Having experienced first-hand the benefits of mentoring circles and workshops during transition year, she is now offering back the support she received and benefitted from when she was in school. 

Paul Costello

Paul is a musician and songwriter from Galway with interests at the intersection of health, art and wellbeing. He works with music and sound as a vehicle for people to form connections and make meaning from the experience. 

He is passionate about indigenous Irish culture and heritage, particularly that of storytelling, song and our ancestral connection to the land. He hopes to interweave his interests into every workshop with compassion, authenticity and accessibility.

Megan O'Malley

Gary Patterson

Gary is a breathwork facilitator, life coach and somatic alignment practitioner. Having experience as a secondary school teacher himself, he is fully aware of the challenges facing teachers today. 

Gary is passionate about creating safe spaces for people to connect and express. Nervous system regulation plays a huge role in this, allowing participants to reduce stress, feel more clarity of mind and experience more peace and joy.

Arty Arturas

Throughout his teens and twenties, Arty suffered with deep depression. Having been addicted to substances for many years, in his late 20s, he decided it was time to find deeper meaning in life.

Over the past number of years, Arty has trained as a breathwork facilitator and men's group facilitator. His aim is to empower the younger generation so that they don't need to make the same mistakes he did.

Ivan Zhurau

Ivan is originally from Belarus but has lived in Ireland for the past 23 years. He first learned survival skills when he was a teenager and he has honed these skills over the years. 

During his time in the Belarus army, Ivan gained knowledge of how to survive in the wild in very harsh climates.

Ivan is extremely knowledgable about all things nature and is very enthusiastic to share this important knowledge with the younger generations through his bushcraft and survival skills workshops.

Fin McKenna-Fox

Fin is a Health & Wellness Consultant & Men's Work Facilitatior with a passion for helping young men find confidence in themselves and create a healthy balance within their physical, mental & emotional wellbeing. 

With over 15 years in the Health & Wellness space, Fin pulls from many different facets of study & experience to empower others to show up as their best self.

Patrick Heffernan

Patrick is an Integrative Health Coach with a love for music, movement and nature. Having spent many years training as a full time sprint hurdler, Patrick turned his focus to studying mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health. 

With a love for music running deep through his ancestral lineage, he loves to bring music into the schools to empower and uplift the students to help express themselves fully as who they are.

Wolf Academy's

Spiral of Wellbeing™ 

Wolf Academy workshops are designed using their unique spiral of wellbeing approach. While many wellbeing programmes solely focus on either self-care or self-connection, we believe lasting wellbeing comes from balancing care, connection and development with self, others and the Earth.