Tag: Kildare County Council

News: Makers Pop-Up Opens in Kildare Town – O Lamha

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

Via Feltmakers Ireland guild member Tamzen Lundy:

We invite you to the evening launch of the new pop-up store. A collective of Eleven Kildare-based Artists, Makers, Designers, and Businesses under the name “Ó Lámha” (from the hand) has taken on the unit for the summer season.

Kindly supported by @leokildare and @kildarecountycouncil

We are opening as part of the Kildare town’s Derby Festival, reviving this unit with the aim of making this space a permanent feature that supports the work of locally based makers, with a specific focus on the creative community.

“Ó Lámha” is a collective of local makers and designers, offering a variety of beautiful handmade products, including cards, prints, silk scarves, woodwork, and jewellery.

WHERE: The old Southwells grocery store, on Kildare Town Market Square, right beside Hartes’ gastropub and a 10-minute walk from Kildare village.

WHEN: Grand Opening Thursday, 27th, 5PM—light refreshments and an evening shopping experience, plus a chance to meet the makers themselves.

GENERAL OPENING TIMES: Thursday- Sunday, 10 AM-5 PM.

We’d love to have you, please help us spread the word about this new venture. 

They say it “takes a village… actually, we think it takes a town- Kildare town!”

Come, support local, shop local, made local.

For more information, see their Instagram page – https://www.instagram.com/olamhakildare


Disclaimer for Feltmakers Ireland Blog

Feltmakers Ireland aims to share information about awards, education, events, exhibitions, and opportunities that you will find interesting. Our sharing is neither paid for by nor an endorsement of these individuals or organisations.

Contact Us: If you have any concerns about content, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com. Questions: For questions about content, please follow the link to the organisation involved in hosting the event.

Review: St Brigid’s Cloaks- Brigid 1500 – Kildare Town

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland1 Comment

All photographs are by Breda Fay, except for the Cathedral window by Tamzen Lundy.

Written by Feltmakers Ireland guild member Breda Fay

I took a trip to nearby Kildare town on Saturday, the 27th of January, to visit the launch of the Brigid’s Cloaks exhibition. I love “launches” as they usually provide an opportunity to talk to the artist and I was not disappointed here.

It was a pleasure to meet the manager/director of this project, Lorna McCormack, of the Wool in School programme. From my days [as an educator] “at the chalkface” I have been impressed with the ethos of this school programme, aligned closely with local culture and heritage and Sustainable Development Goals 2030.

Lorna introduced me to lead Artist Michelle Hickey Legge, who described the works. The focus was on using locally sourced Irish wool and sustainable resources. Four stunning St Brigid’s Cloaks were crafted “with an all-encompassing approach to wool heritage and art”, Lorna explained. “With a focus on an all-island approach involving many generations, people across Ireland came together and immersed themselves in heritage crafts and community connections”. Lorna had some amusing stories about how the children chose the placement of their work. She also pointed out some interesting features I might have missed: a knitted piece from one of Seamus Heaney’s aran jumpers featured; one of the cloaks had Brigid Cross motifs included.

A total of 925 were involved, including 250 local school children from the town of Kildare who made pompoms, covered CDs, pieces of wool lace and knitting, each placed onto a cloak.

St Brigid’s Cloaks is a community artwork developed by Wool in School in association with Creative Ireland and Kildare County Council. The exhibition runs until April and will tour the country afterwards.

Where: St Brigid’s Cathedral, Kildare Town.

When: through April 2024, with the cloaks then touring the country.

There is a short video on Instagram of the installation of the show- https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2zPBxII-tH/?igsh=azMxNWJodzlhdWI4

For more information, visit the Wool in School website – https://woolinschool.com/

Editor’s note: Thank you so much, Breda, for sharing your visit to the launch of St Brigid’s Cloaks in the Cathedral in Kildare Town. We love having articles by our community members. If you are a guild member and have an interesting textile event to share, please email us at feltmakersie@gmail.com

Review: Brigid 1500 Art Trail in Kildare

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

Written by Guild Member Breda Fay

Unravelling an Icon

How could a BREDA not be excited by a Brigid ‘s festival, especially if it’s only 15 km over the road?

Former Feltmakers Ireland chair, Breda Fay, in Kildare town.

On Saturday, I attended the launch of Sult Arists‘ “Unravelling an Icon” in Kildare town, an exciting art exhibition that transformed a town square into an open-air art gallery. Twenty local businesses bought into the idea of exhibiting sixty works in a wide variety of mediums/media of national and international artists in their windows as part of Brigid 1500 celebrations.

A free map and catalogue were available, as well as hot chocolate, cake and savouries (donations to Medicins sans Frontieres). I’m attaching a map in case you are interested and they’re not available later.

How to Find the Artworks

Map of the Artist Trail
Venues that have art.

The Opening

Niamh Wycherly of Maynooth University opened the exhibition with an impressive account of Brigid’s life and works. {There is a short video of her opening on the Sult Artists’ Instagram page – https://www.instagram.com/p/C2nDS0xM9Pp/ }

Despite the cold weather, it was great to meet many friends and/or exhibitors and chat about arty stuff: Liadain Butler, who introduced me to felt many moons ago, Tamzen Lundy and Aisling Hassett from Feltmakers Ireland, muinteoirí (teachers) from Newbridge, and the singers from Kill.

Artwork from Feltmakers Ireland’s Guild Members

Piece by Liadain Butler.
Piece by Tamzen Lundy
Piece by Aisling Hassett
‘ ‘The Shepherdess’ by Theresa Carroll

The exhibition is on for a month…. well worth a visit. There are some lovely coffee shops and eateries in the town square. {It runs through Sunday, the 18th of February}.

Additionally, there is an online art gallery of each piece in the show, which includes the artists’ details, titles of each piece, medium, and social media/links - https://sultartists.com/brigid-1500

To see more of the Feltmakers Ireland members’ works, visit the following links:

Thank you ever so much, Breda, for visiting Kildare to see the Art Trail in Kildare town! We appreciate learning more about the exhibition. – the editors. To learn more about Breda, visit her blog – https://bredafay.com/

Exhibition: Unravelling an Icon, Celebrating and Remembering Brigid and her Legacy – an Open Air Art Trail- Kildare Town

Published on by Feltmakers Ireland

By Tamzen Lundy

Kildare Town will be transformed into an open-air art gallery where more than 20 local businesses will exhibit 60 works of international and national art in their windows as part of the Brigid 1500 celebrations in the new year.

This uniquely accessible art exhibition, titled “Unravelling an Icon, Celebrating and Remembering Brigid and her Legacy,” was organized by Sult Artist-led Collective.

The trail is based in Kildare, reflecting the traditions, customs, and symbols associated with Brigid’s legacy. It marks the 1500th anniversary of Brigid’s death in February 2024.

I’m so happy to have a piece selected for the exhibition; following an international open call in May this year, 215 pieces of art were submitted by artists from all over the world. Sult Artists, a member of Co. Kildare Arts Service, as well as a curator from IMMA, had the difficult task of shortlisting down to the successful applicants.

The idea behind the exhibition is to make art as accessible as possible and create more opportunities for people to interact with art. We hope the local community and visitors coming to the town will really enjoy the artworks and learn more about Brigid.

The exhibition includes paintings, ceramics, photography, film, sculpture, animation, printmaking, stitching, felting, weaving, digital art, stained glass, drawing, embroidery, mosaic, mixed media, batik and textile work.

There will be a map of the free Brigid 1500 Art Trail.

When: The show opens at 4 PM on January 27th and runs through February 19th, 2024.

Where: the shop windows and streets of Kildare Town.

Feltmakers Ireland members Tamzen Lundy, Aisling Hassett, Liadain Butler, and Theresa Carroll have pieces in the show.

Tamzen’s artwork is on the left, and Aisling’s is on the right.

Liadain’s piece is on the left, and Theresa’s is on the right.

There is an article about the art trail in the Kildare Nationalist newspaper – https://kildare-nationalist.ie/2023/12/22/kildare-town-will-become-an-open-air-art-gallery-to-celebrate-brigid-1500/

If you have a piece in the art trail AND are a member of Feltmakers Ireland, please let us know –feltmakersie@gmail.com