Our flagship annual event is here: our symposium! This year’s theme, Many Strands Make a Strong Rope, will be literally and metaphorically guiding us throughout this two-day event. Tickets to the Friday talks are now sold out. Please join us on Saturday for our Open Day & Textile Market! See more information below, as well as subsidised tickets for the workshops.
Conscious that the only way to co-create a regenerative and local textile ecosystem is by working together, this two-day event will be a catalyst for our members and wider community to get inspired, strengthen ongoing collaborations or spark new ones.
This year, the symposium will return to Dublin and will span two days of talks, workshops, demonstrations, and creative networking opportunities. Scroll down to read more about everything we have in store for you!
🛋️ Looking for a place to stay in Dublin or have a place to offer? Join the Couchsurfing space on our Community Network to link up!
🛏️ Some of our members have suggested The Generator Hostel in Smithfield for affordable accommodation.
There are no refunds on issued tickets.
If you're a member of Fibreshed Ireland, please log in to get a discounted tickets for this event!
Otherwise, scroll down to grab your tickets at full price.
Friday 21 November: The Symposium
On Friday 21 November, we will gather in The Richmond Education and Event Centre, Smithfield from 10:00am – 4:30pm to hear from a wide variety of growers and practitioners who work in line with Soil-to-Soil principles of circularity, compostability and agroecology. Tickets include a wholesome lunch and tea/coffee breaks that cater to all dietary requirements.
Speakers:
🔸 Jennifer & Tristan Lienhard — AppleOak FibreWorks
🔸 Katarina Hruskova — Woolstore
🔸 Kathy Kirwan — Flax 405 project
🔸 Mary Ann Williams — Textiles of Ireland
🔸 Michelle Mc Cabe — researcher exploring the connections between textile craft and wellbeing with ATU Sligo
🔸 Ryan Daniel Koenig, MSc — 16th century textile archaeology
🔸 Sarah Babiker — Threads of Story: Woolcraft a Language & Memory between Ireland and the Arab World
🍱 There will be an optional social dinner that evening at 6:00pm in Fidelity Bar, a 9-minute walk from The Richmond Education and Event Centre (tickets sold separately at checkout).
Saturday 22 November: The Open Day
On Saturday 22 November, we’ll host an open day of craft demonstrations, workshops, shopping opportunities and community building in Richmond Barracks, Inchicore, from 10:00am – 3:30pm.
To close out the symposium, there will be a gentle movement session for crafters with Aideen Macken from 3:30pm – 4:10pm. Everyone is welcome!
Admission to the demonstrations and shopping is free, but each workshop will be ticketed.
Workshops:
🔹 Upcycling workshop with Eimear Greaney, from 10:00am – 12:00pm — if possible, participants are invited to bring a piece of clothing to be upcycled
🔹 Aran knitting with Ryan Daniel Koenig, MSc, from 10:00am – 12:00pm — participants must know how to cast on, knit, purl, knit in the same row
🔹 Weaving Circle with Lucy Hyland, from 1:00pm – 3:00pm — participants are invited to bring personal textiles, wool, and other items to integrate into the weave
🔹 Movement session for crafters with Aideen Macken, from 3:30 – 4:10 — gentle exercises for all levels of fitness and mobility. FREE, with optional donations to support Fibreshed Ireland’s work.
Vendors:
🔸 Anne O’Toole — Naturally dyed wool, naturally dyed carded fleece, Aran Christmas tree ornaments & knitting kits
🔸 FeltHappinness Hats — Felted Hats made from Irish wool, adorned with cyanotype-printed silk featuring foraged seaweed
🔸 Irish Fibre Crafters — Irish-grown fibre, handspun yarn & naturally dyed yarn
🔸 Mallon Linen — Flax fibre grown agroecologically in Ireland & handspun linen thread
🔸 Petra Skyvova — natural and hand-dyed wool yarn & eco-printed upcycled garments/textiles
🔸 Sound of Spinning — natural fibres for spinners & felters, Galway Girl batts & breed sampler Fibre packs
🔸 Woolstore.ie — Carded wool, felting kits, felted cushions & Galway Yarn decorations
🐑 Live felting demonstrations by Feltmakers Ireland and live spinning demonstrations by the Irish Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers 🐑
👉 Please note that, although both venues have the name “Richmond” in them, they are different spaces in separate locations! 👈
Fibreshed Ireland’s annual symposium is run as part of Irish Design Week. Partly funded and supported by the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland.
