As part of the Laces of Ireland project, Limerick Museum announces a dedicated lace exhibition titled: “A Tribute in Thread: Limerick Museum exhibition: “A Tribute in Thread: Limerick’s Forgotten Lacemakers”.
The exhibition will run from Tuesday, 5th of August until Saturday 30th of August, at the Limerick Museum on Henry Street.
More details following soon!
This exhibition is one of the three major exhibitions organised as part of the Laces of Ireland project. The project is funded by Creative Ireland’s Creative Communities on a Shared Island Scheme, and Limerick City and County Council through Creative Ireland Limerick.
As part of the Laces of Ireland project, Cork Public Museum announces a dedicated lace exhibition titled: “Cork’s Lace Heritage and Beyond: The Story of a Living Tradition”.
The exhibition will open on the 14th of August, and will remain open until the 20th of December 2025.
This exhibition explores the story of lace in Cork and beyond— a tradition rooted in skill, creativity, and community. From delicate patterns to enduring legacies, visitors are invited to discover how lace connects the past with the present.
Cork Public Museum is operated by Cork City Council and welcomes all visitors to enjoy its exhibitions and collections in the beautiful surroundings of Fitzgerald Park.
This project has been made possible through the Creative Communities on a Shared Island Scheme, supported by Creative Ireland and Limerick City and County Council.
As part of the Laces of Ireland project, Cork Public Museum announces a dedicated lace exhibition titled: “Cork’s Lace Heritage and Beyond: The Story of a Living Tradition”.
The exhibition will open on the 14th of August, and will remain open until the 20th of December 2025.
This exhibition explores the story of lace in Cork and beyond— a tradition rooted in skill, creativity, and community. From delicate patterns to enduring legacies, visitors are invited to discover how lace connects the past with the present.
Cork Public Museum is operated by Cork City Council and welcomes all visitors to enjoy its exhibitions and collections in the beautiful surroundings of Fitzgerald Park.
This project has been made possible through the Creative Communities on a Shared Island Scheme, supported by Creative Ireland and Limerick City and County Council.
As part of the Laces of Ireland project, Limerick Museum announces a dedicated lace exhibition titled: “A Tribute in Thread: Limerick Museum exhibition: “A Tribute in Thread: Limerick’s Forgotten Lacemakers”.
The exhibition will run from Tuesday, 5th of August until Saturday 30th of August, at the Limerick Museum on Henry Street.
More details following soon!
This exhibition is one of the three major exhibitions organised as part of the Laces of Ireland project. The project is funded by Creative Ireland’s Creative Communities on a Shared Island Scheme, and Limerick City and County Council through Creative Ireland Limerick.
After many months of working closely with the Armagh County Museum, the South Armagh Lace Collective are delighted to invite you to the opening of the ‘Lace & Legacy’ exhibition which will take place on Saturday 5th July at 11.30
This is the first of three exhibitions scheduled to take place across the island this summer as part of the Laces of Ireland Project which is funded by Creative Ireland’s Creative Communities on a shared island and led by Limerick County Council.
The exhibition will open to the general public on Monday 7th July until Saturday 11th October in Armagh County Museum.
The exhibition showcases fine examples of lace from the Museum’s collection and from across the Island of Ireland. The exhibition will include works from renowned Irish fashion designers Olwen Bourke and Natalie B Coleman. Also on display are iconic lace pieces from the Sybil Connolly Collection on loan from the Hunt Museum, Limerick which includes the stunning ‘Pink Ice’ Dress and her black ‘Illusion’ Opera Coat both made from Carrickmacross lace.
The Laces & Legacy exhibition also offers an intimate insight into the enduring value of traditional hand craft skills and heritage lace techniques. The exhibition showcases the lacemaking traditions of Ulster with an array of lace making groups and individual lacemakers coming together for the very first time to proudly showcase the strength and depth of our lace making heritage.
On 21-23 June 2024, following the invitation received from the South Armagh Lace Collective, a delegation of Friends of Lace Limerick , including Susan Frawley, Fidelma Cosgrave, Toni O’Malley, Eva Ryley, Marina Poster and Gabriela Avram, undertook a trip to Culloville in South Armagh.
The next stop was the Armagh County Museum , which is a partner in our Laces of Ireland project and will organise a dedicated lace exhibition in August 2025. A group of members from the South Armagh Lace Collective joined us for the visit. Sarah Millsopp, the curator, shared with us an important part of the lace collection that is not usually on display. The two hours reserved for the visit flew. We were all in a trance, marvelling at the exquisite work and attempting to identify lace types and provenance.
On Saturday, 22 June 2024, the members of the South Armagh Lace Collective organised a Carrickmacross Lace making class for the visiting group and for local people interested. Some were complete beginners, others like myself had attended a workshop 5 years prior (and still had the unfinished piece!). A pop-up exhibition with heirloom and contemporary lace pieces was organised in the same venue.
In the afternoon, a Lace Gathering took place at the Culloville Community Centre. The event saw the launch of the Laces of Ireland project in Northern Ireland. Rosie Finnegan-Bell, the chair of the South Armagh Lace Collective, sent invitations to the lace making community both north and south of the border, and there were more than 70 people in attendance.
The audience had the chance to appreciate the pop-up exhibition, discover new connections and talk about their own experience related to lace.
A pop-up Limerick lace exhibition was organised by Friends of Lace Limerick.
Carrickmacross lace teacher extraordinaire Mary McMahon was also present. Mary was one of the lacemakers who created the lace for Sybil Connolly’s famous dresses Pink Ice, and Illusion, now in the collection of the Hunt Museum in Limerick.
The gathering was a huge success, with enthusiastic feedback coming from all over the island of Ireland.
On the next morning, June 23rd, before departing for Limerick, the visitors were led on a tour of the Creggan Graveyard by local historian Una Walsh, whose enthusiasm, knowledge and elocution left a deep impression on the audience.
Based on a last minute arrangement, an invitation to visit lace designer PJ McCabe and custodian of the St. Louis Convent lace designs in Carrickmacross was extended to the whole Limerick group, accompanied by Rosie Finnegan-Bell. The idea of commissioning a joint design for a triptych has emerged and is under discussion at the moment.
The project focuses on supporting collaboration and exchanges between lacemaker groups and heritage institutions on the island of Ireland, and is led by Limerick City and County Council. The partners in the project are Friends of Lace Limerick and the South Armagh Lace Collective, and three museums: the Limerick Museum, the Armagh County Museum and the Cork Public Museum. The long term goal is to create and promote a lace trail through the majority of historical lacemaking centres on the island of Ireland.
For the duration of the project (2023-2025), we will be organising pop-up exhibitions, presentations, demonstrations and lacemaking classes), as well as mutual visits .
The Laces of Ireland digital platform will be further developed to include a Laces of Ireland Trail map. An all-Ireland lace trail that will include the permanent collections and lacemaking community groups available to welcome visitors, as well as a joint calendar of events.
The two groups came up with the idea of a lace trail, that would map places of lace interest both in their localities, and across the island of Ireland, back in 2019. The pandemic interrupted the mutual visits, but the connections between the two groups continued online. The availability of such a lace trail has both national and international tourism potential and would encourage the organisation of lace tours throughout the island of Ireland.
In May, we identified the Creative Communities on a Shared Island programme as a potential pathway for continuing to work on this idea. We were fortunate to be able to persuade the Limerick Arts Office to support our application, as each county can put forward one project only.