The Guardian
Article taken from The Guardian Magazine click here to read the full piece…
Kilkenny is crafts capital of Ireland and some of the county’s finest artisans have decided to team up and form a network called ““. They have created a trail that you can follow, which will lead you on a guided route through craftmakers’ studios in the city and county, enabling you to watch them at work and buy gifts and artwork directly.
One of the craftspeople who features on the trail is Rebekah Patterson, a milliner who works out of a couple of tiny upstairs rooms above the cobbled Market Slip in Kilkenny. “The Irish like to buy unique hats,” says Patterson who has been crafting headwear for 20 years. “There are still a lot of weddings in Ireland, which is probably my biggest market, and then there’s the races. People often come to me with their outfit and I will match the colours exactly.”
Also featured on the trail are the artisans based at Castlecomer estate yard in the grounds of the Discovery Park – an interactive tour through Castlecomer’s coal-mining past. Here the jeweller Carl Parker is kept busy crafting engagement rings, wedding rings and special occasion gifts for an eager local clientele. “I suppose it’s a bit like it’s always been. I’m the local jeweller,” says Parker. “People come to me when they want something made, I’ll size it correctly and design it exactly as they desire it. I also get a lot of visitors who have Irish ancestry from this area, who are keen to buy something local.”
Neighbouring studios house, among others, potter Rosemarie Durr and her husband Andrew Ludick, who make distinctive hand-thrown tableware, textile designer Maeve Coulter who sells her felt handbags and huge wallhangings and paper maker Polly Minett.
