CRAGGAUNOWEN comes alive this summer as it plays host to the Culture, Craft & Textile Fair on Sunday, July 12, 2026, from 10am to 5pm.
The event will celebrate the wealth of creative talent, heritage craft, and cultural knowledge that continues to thrive across Clare and beyond.
Visitors to Clare County Council-managed Craggaunowen can expect an immersive and inspiring day, with a programme of expert talks, live demonstrations, and hands-on experiences spanning everything from ancient fibre arts and Viking woodworking to natural dyeing, felting, basket weaving, and more. Local and national artists, craftspeople, and tradespeople will be on hand to share their skills, stories, and creations making this a unique gathering for makers, enthusiasts, and the simply curious alike.
Some of Ireland’s most compelling voices in craft and heritage will give talks at the event, including Kate Kirwin who will take visitors on a journey from flax to fibre, tracing the labour-intensive process of linen-making and gathering stories from older generations who lived it.
Joining her will be Astrid Adler, a German-born multidisciplinary visual artist, musician, and practitioner of syntropic agroforestry based in Monmore, Kilrush, along with Paul Kavanagh, founder of Boyne Valley Events, and an internationally recognised Viking expert, who will bring a Viking longboat to Craggaunowen for all to see.
Annie Gambrill, of Gambrill & Lam, and a member of the Irish Guild of Weavers, Spinners and Dyers, will deliver live demonstrations of traditional hand spinning and weaving using Irish wool from local flocks with a rich array of craft demonstrations and working artists to visit and engage with woven throughout the day.
In the world of fibre arts, visitors will be spoilt for choice as felting artist Sandra Marschal, crochet artist Liv Steudermann, Sharon C. Wynne, of DWW Makes Crafts, and Sandra King showcase their talents.
The fair also welcomes a number of featured artists whose work reflects a deep commitment to natural materials and Irish craft heritage. Galway-based Katarina Hruskova, as well as Malú Colorín, Fern and Jork, of Olann & Seol and Janet White Spunner and Lynne Gallagher, of Irish Alpaca Yarns, are among the other highly talented people set to attend.
Commenting on the upcoming fair, Events Manager at Craggaunowen and Bunratty Castle & Folk Park, Marie Brennan, said “There is nowhere quite like Craggaunowen to host an event like this. The combination of living history, master craftspeople and passionate artists makes for something truly extraordinary, a day where the past and present of Irish craft come together in one incredible place”.
