Molly-Claire Gillett, author of Irish Lacemaking: art, industry and cultural practice and Máire Treanor, author of Clones Lace: the stories and patterns of an Irish Crochet in conversation

Join Clones crochet lacemaker, designer and historian Máire Treanor and lace historian Dr. Molly-Claire Gillett for a conversation about the relationship between craft skills and histories in lace research to launch Treanor’s new edition of Clones Lace: the story and patterns of an Irish crochet (The Lace Museum, 2026) and Gillett’s Irish Lacemaking: art, industry and cultural practice (Bloomsbury, 2025), which includes a discussion of Treanor’s crochet lace teaching and designing. Copies of Clones Lace will be for sale.

The Pop-Up Festival
Lacemaking in Galway: skills and stories is a celebration of lacemaking in County Galway. With an exhibition, workshops, demonstrations, and talks with lacemakers and historians taking place over five days, this pop-up festival showcases the skill and creativity of lacemakers in Galway and the stories – historical and present-day – entangled with the craft of lacemaking in Ireland and beyond. The festival runs from Tuesday 28 April until Saturday 2 May.

All events are FREE and open to the public at the Galway City Museum, Galway City Centre Library, and the University of Galway. See the full programme of events for this year’s Lacemaking in Galway Pop-Up Festival.