Heritage textiles and natural dyeing rooted in Baltinglass's wool tradition, as part of The Wicklow Arc.

The Wicklow Arc is a Made in Wicklow project, linking craft workshops from Baltinglass to Blessington and arcing across to Arklow, all running this Autumn and building towards a joint showcase at Powerscourt in 2027.

Our theme this year is the Wicklow Mountains — the granite spine that runs the length of the county, dividing east from west while quietly connecting every community along its slopes. For centuries these hills have shaped daily life here: the stone that built field walls and hillforts, the sheep that grazed the uplands and gave rise to a wool tradition still practised today, the rivers that rise in the peaks and carry their way down to the coast. We're using that landscape as the thread linking each workshop into one story — from the granite foothills and wool traditions of the west, through the county's craft communities, to where the hills finally meet the sea at Arklow in the east, a town with its own deep-rooted pottery tradition and once home to the renowned Arklow Pottery works.

From Baltinglass to Blessington, the uplands here have carried sheep and wool for centuries — it's the material the mountains have always produced, and the thread this strand of the Arc picks up.

Hosted in the main house at Russborough House, this four-session workshop leads participants through heritage textile techniques, natural dyeing, and hands-on making rooted in that hill-farming tradition. Sessions run Saturday mornings, 10am to 1pm. No experience necessary — all welcome.

This project is supported by the LEADER Rural Development Programme 2023 to 2027, Wicklow County Council, Wicklow Arts Office and County Wicklow Partnership

Description supplied by the event organiser.