Have you visited our showrooms at Barrystown, home to Ceadogán’s handmade rugs? If you have, you will sense there’s more than a little magic in the air down here.
Colm and Martina moved back to Barrystown from Connemara in 2011.
They moved into the cottage in the yard where they design and make rugs for their clients from all over the world.
The surrounding fields offer stunning views over the mud flats and the diverse wildlife that it supports. Living and working from an 18th century courtyard overlooking Bannow Bay estuary offers a unique and remarkable backdrop.
“But we don’t take any of this for granted!” Says Martina who hails from the City of Brno in the Czech Republic and has always dreamt of living and working close to the sea.” We want to give something back, and contribute in whatever way we can to the magic that makes this place so special”
Colm grew up on the farm in Barrystown.
“We really had an incredible childhood here, Summers seemed endless, we grew strawberries behind the loft, and kept sheep and horses stabled where the showrooms are today. We had crops too, barley, wheat, and oats. But having spent over twenty years away it was the curlews call that struck me most powerfully on my return, that was a background sound for many a midnight adventure! Hearing that call again amplified on a clear night by the still waters of the estuary told me I was home”
When you stand on the ground here, you can truly sense the history in the stone built workspaces and 15th century castle, but also the plants and animals that cohabit this beautiful space – the soul that is embedded so deeply in every aspect of where you find yourself.
“When we notice this we feel an enormous sense of connection, gratitude and commitment.”
It is with this commitment in mind that we put our first foot forward on what will surely be a journey of many discoveries, with lots of ups and downs.
Our intention – to integrate our business into its surroundings in a way that compliments regenerates and builds upon what is already here.
It is central to our plan not just to cut back on negative impacts of the materials we use, but to ensure that we are making a positive and regenerative contribution through the choices we make.
So let us tell you a bit about our plans! We will be writing quite a bit about each aspect as we go, but here are a few bullet points setting out our route.
- Assess and identify habitat and features that we can support/create in the surrounding land.
- Create spaces and systems that can regenerate habitat while producing fibres for the creation of yarns.
- Introduce small herds of alpaca and sheep
- Establish the viability of a small to medium scale fibre processing plant.
- Restore abandoned piggery to provide winter housing for sheep/alpacas and a processing shed where fibres can be retted, carded, spun and dyed on a small to medium scale.
- Initiate experimental plant and animal based fibre processing
Exciting?? We certainly think so! Maybe a little daunting too….We will breakdown our plans over the coming weeks and months as we explore and set them in motion.
