Revealed: Cork Craft Month's top events and activities

As Cork Craft Month gets underway from July 31-August 31, we talk to the organisers and makers about the biggest programme to date

Fri, 25 Jul, 2025 - 10:42

Carol O’Callaghan

Someone who is passionate about what they're doing will always use the vocabulary of affection in their references. Cork Craft Month’s festival director, Ava Hayes, is talking to me about the events’ programme across the city and county, from July 31-August 31, so I ask her for her top picks. Such is her care for the event, it's like asking her to pick her favourite child.

With good humour, she says, “My two favourite children are the Emerge graduate exhibition at 46 Grand Parade with 20 new craft makers, and I’m excited to go to Fota House with an exhibition of our long-term makers.”

Ava Hayes, festival director, Cork Craft Month.

Now in her third year as festival director, Ava’s involvement started four years ago when she was appointed curator of the Emerge graduate exhibition showing work from the five Cork art colleges: Crawford College of Art & Design, Coláiste Stiofáin Naofa, St John’s Central College, West Cork Campus Skibbereen which is a subsidiary of the Cork College of Commerce, and Kinsale College.

Ava has since handed over the reins for Emerge and turned her curatorial focus to the two showcase exhibitions which celebrate Cork Craft & Design, the membership organisation which galvanised Cork craft makers to come together and support and market themselves to the public. “This year is the 20th anniversary of Cork Craft & Design, so we have two showcase events called Echoes of the Makers, showing our members’ work. The city-based one takes place in St Peter’s, North Main Street, and we have a county location at Fota House," she says.

Everything is for sale at the events, and there’s something for every budget. In the Cork Craft & Design shop, prices range from €30 to €200 for smaller pieces, which can include ceramics, wood-turned objects and textiles which are easily portable for carrying home. The showcase exhibitions range from €300 to €2,000 and include bigger furniture pieces, so if you’re in the market for buying a wedding or house-warming gift, there’s a chance to buy something unique with a story behind the making of it.

Organisers and crafters at Fota House launching Cork Craft Month 2025.

It might be hard to know where to begin when you browse through the brochure online at Corkcraftanddesign.ie, but if you have a Saturday free, Ava advises you “start the Cork Craft Month journey with an open heart. Go to the exhibitions at St Peter's and Emerge in the city, and then Fota House to get a flavour.

"Take a trip to Kilcoe Studios in Ballydehob for live events and family events. On the way, there’s the Green Dot in Clonakilty. You can go to a Meet the Maker workshop event with wood turning or making a pot, where you’ll learn about the process from the maker, and you then welcome the pieces into your home.”

Such is the success of Cork Craft Month that it has become the template for similar events developing nationwide and the all-Ireland August Craft Month.

Furniture maker Fergal O’Leary, one of the early members of Cork Craft & Design, says, “We have 99 events this year. 80% of them are hands-on workshops with the makers, from Castletownbere to Youghal and up to Newmarket. They’re very engaging. You come away with something more than a cup, something that lasts longer in your consciousness.”

Fergal also sees public awareness of the value of craft having grown. “People are more aware of what bang you can get for your buck,” he says. “The craft category has been strengthened by the proliferation of what’s online. It’s a different experience. There’s quality and depth to craft.”

Glassmaker George Duggan, one of the particpants in Cork Craft Month.

The permanent Cork Craft & Design shop at St Patrick’s Woollen Mills in Douglas and the pop-up shop at Douglas Court Shopping Centre have also contributed to this, he says.

“They’re a nice focus and engagement with crafters and the public for events, and they’ve raised the profile of craft with the help of local enterprise offices, city and county council arts offices, the Department of Trade, Enterprise and Employment and local businesses.”

But something else that sets these shops apart is the craft makers' commitment to spending time there talking to the public. “You see how people want to touch things, the wood, the bowls,” says Fergal.

“It’s a personal story for everyone involved, the buyer and the maker. I always say, the maker talks about the process, the customer talks about the piece.”