Native sheep farmer, designers, and U2 bassist to headline at Fashion & Farming Festival

Irish Examiner

28-04-2025

We're all well aware of cheap clothing that has originated in places many of us have never set foot in. And we're not going to solve the fast fashion and synthetic fibres issues in a day. But when you or a visitor to this country buys a wool sweater or tweed garment that comes with labels proudly declaring them to be 'pure Irish' or 'crafted in Éire' we might expect the yarn to come from the tufty sheep that skittered away from our car as we drove by a few minutes ago.
But the wool from sheep here has been shipped off this island as a CAT 3 waste product and the wool throws, classy tweed scarves, and luxurious-feeling carpets touted as 'Irish' are actually most likely made from imported yarn.
The Irish sheep that feature on posters, ornaments, mugs and more may well enjoy fresh air and a free-range life but ones that are intensively reared overseas for the wool used here may actually live in farming systems that are less sustainable and less ethical.
Sounds like something has gotten mixed up somewhere.
And it was disconnect between raw materials, prices, sustainability and integrity that drove Blátnaid Gallagher to set up the Galway Wool Co-op.
CLIMATE & SUSTAINABILITY HUB
She wants to speak up for wool growers who are looking after our native Irish rare breed — the Galway. The Galway doesn't mean it's a breed of sheep from Galway, it's a native Irish breed that happens to be called Galway, just like merino is a breed of sheep and a place in Spain.
Galway Wool is a strong white bio-fibre suitable as a base material for an array of home interiors and lifestyle products. Picture: David Ruffles
"These white-faced lowland sheep are our native sheep — they are so fluffy and gentle, they are a gorgeous animal. They don't just go for sweet grass either, they clean up weeds like nettles and dock and the farmers who shepherd them here are passionate about their welfare. We have one of the highest standard of animal welfare in the world and people can be fined or jailed for mistreating animals. These sheep here are not raised in industrial-scale farms," explains Blátnaid.
The Galway Wool Co-op works to achieve fair trade farm gate prices for the wool as well as a consistent route to market for the yarn and "before the Co-op was founded our glorious Galway wool was haemorrhaging out of the country as a waste product," she notes.
Blatnaid and Niall Gallagher, farmers of Galway Sheep, Aughrim, County Galway. Picture: David Ruffles
And not alone are farmers here watching wool being 'dumped' but then we have "Irish designers, mills, retailers, tweed, and garment manufacturers working with imported wool from factory-sized wool growing units in the southern hemisphere... where's the sustainability in that?"
While Ireland has a weaving history going back thousands of years — a fragment of cloth, with a 'broken twill weave', dating to 700BC was found in a bog in Armoy, County Antrim in 1904 — the industry suffered significant setbacks from various sources. While Ireland had been exporting products to Britain and beyond, a new law was passed in England in 1699 "for the further encouragement of the woollen manufacturers of England" and this prevented Ireland exporting woollen products to England. The mass starvation of the Famine also negatively impacted Ireland's handwoven culture.
Worsted spinning is a technique that produce smooth yarn in which the fibres lie parallel. The decline of the spinning industry here means that weavers and crafters have had to buy in spun wool from overseas: "The lack of worsted spinning in Ireland is a critical yet often overlooked issue in reviving native Irish wool for modern contemporary knitwear design and fashion. Worsted spinning could significantly enhance the durability, smoothness, and overall wearability of Irish wool, making it more appealing for contemporary design. It would be great if there was an appetite within the industry to reinvest in worsted spinning."
Blatnaid Gallagher: "Sadly, in the early 20th century the introduction of faster meat producing breeds meant 'The Galway' almost became extinct were it not for the gallant effort of the Galway Sheep Breeders Association."
Blátnaid is one of the key speakers the upcoming inaugural Fashion & Farming Festival, which aims to weave together experiences, projects and stories that might lead to a brighter future for our planet. She'll be joined by guests including actors Sinéad Cusack and Jeremy Irons and by U2 bassist Adam Clayton. Alongside his music work Clayton is also committed to organic and regenerative growing, exploring how the work we do now can help to reverse what has been done.
As part of the campaign to promote native Irish wool, Blátnaid is proud to show off gorgeous garments and striking art crafted with this wool. They include sweaters made by Cork hand knitter Jean Long and blankets designed by artist Ellie Dunne.
Jean Long has worked on commissions for private individuals, the Galway Artisan Collective, and Conor O'Brien Design.
Ellie Dunne has chosen to work with Native Irish Galway wool sourced from The Galway Wool Co-op as her primary medium.
Ellie Dunne is 25 and has Down Syndrome. She's currently studying painting and drawing at the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin and designs wool blankets . Her latest blanket is a collaboration with the Galway Wool Co-op woven by Molloy & Sons in Ardara, County Donegal. Picture: Naoise Culhane Photography
The inaugural Fashion & Farming Festival takes place in Kinsale, Cork from May 10-11. Explore the connection between what we wear and the earth we share: three days of talks, performances and food, as farmers, designers, sowers and growers come together fashionandfarming.com
The Festival is the brainchild of Mareta Doyle, who founded the award-winning international Kinsale Arts Festival — she aims present an event that might just change the world we wear: 'Once inextricably linked, fashion and farming are part of our domestic and social fabric, but how we farm and how we create fashion are killing us in today's world. We believe it's time to make it, better. The Fashion & Farming Festival aims to help unify the two worlds of fashion and farming to explore ideas on how to farm sustainably, create new fabrics and learn new things from older ways of making. Looking at what we eat, wear and the earth we share, we invite you to join us for a weekend of conversation, provocation, good food, great ideas and intriguing fun in the West Cork coastal town of Kinsale, where fresh ideas take root."
Tickets: eventbrite.ie/e/fashion-farming-tickets-1200401275529
FACEBOOK: @fashion.and.farming
INSTAGRAM: @fashion.and.farming
Speakers at the inaugural Fashion & Farming Festival include:
Adam Clayton
Bass guitarist with U2. The band's 15 studio albums have amassed sales in excess of 175 million, and their awards include 22 Grammys, two Golden Globes, and the Amnesty International, Ambassador of Conscience Award.
Bay Garnett
The queen of 'thrifting' and the first stylist to use only vintage on Kate Moss in what has now become an iconic fashion story. Bay has been the leader in sustainable fashion for decades and is senior fashion advisor for Oxfam, having worked with them since 2017. She curated he first luxury pop up with Oxfam alongside Gucci and Prada; the first charity shop in a department store (at Selfridges); the first fashion show using only second-hand items donated by Oxfam and the first Second Hand September campaign starring Stella Tennant and most recently Sienna Miller.
Darina Allen
Synonymous in Ireland with the famous Ballymaloe Cookery School, Co Cork, which she co-founded in 1983 — Darina is a passionate advocate of sustainability in farming and growing.
Tim Smit
Tim is co-founder of the award-winning Eden Project near St Austell in Cornwall. Eden began as a dream in 1995 and opened its doors to the public in 2000, since when more than 19 million people have come to see what was once a sterile pit turned into a cradle of life containing world-class horticulture.
Carry Somers
Internationally renowned for her transformative impact on the fashion industry, Carry Somers, founder of Fashion Revolution, is a visionary changemaker, fashion designer, social entrepreneur, and campaigner. She also founded the award-winning Fair Trade brand Pachacuti, and co-founded the League of Artisans, a non-profit championing artisanal skills as a vital response to global challenges.
Coco Baraer Panazza
Coco is a French entrepreneur based in London. As CEO of MYWARDROBE HQ (MWHQ), Coco overseas an organisation dedicated to inspiring people to embrace the circular economy through luxury fashion rental and resale.
Lilian Gleave
Lilian is a first-year medical student at University College Cork, and a dedicated advocate for positive change. Lilian won an award at BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in 2022 for her project: "To investigate the world of fast fashion and how to incentivize mending clothes instead of discarding them."
Brigid Barry
Farming for Nature, managed by Brigid Barry, is a non-profit initiative whose mission is to support, encourage and inspire farmers who farm, or who wish to farm, in a way that will improve the natural health of our countryside. Brigid comes from a suckler and tillage farm in Cork. Her most recent publication, The Farming for Nature Handbook, co-authored with Dr Emma Hart and Brendan Dunford, presents an extensive guide to working in ways that support the land for growers, gardeners and farmers everywhere.