Travelogue from 
Ireland
The 10th of March 2006 Anne-Line and I went to Ireland.
At home my car wasn't to be found, and people had to take busses to get to
work, because of all the snow. In Dublin it was chilly,
indeed, but not at all any snow, and no problem to pull a suitcase after
one in the streets.
From Dublin to Northern Ireland
The first part of our programme was a trip north in the
country to visit Anne-Line's sister and her husband, after spending one
day i Dublin. My girl friend and carrier had the map and itinerary ready,
we were to take the bus to Crossgar in Downpatrick in Northern Ireland.
From Dublin to Newry and further from Newry to Downpatrick, where Aslaug
came to meet at the station.
Downpatrick
is a city in Down county with 10.000 inhabitants, which lies 33 km south
of Belfast. Here St. Patrick is buried, so they're saying. Aslaug drove us from Downpatrick to Killileagh street in
Crossgar, which
is a small town south of Belfast,
with 1500 inhabitants.
Northern Ireland has their own
Patchwork Guild, and the quilter Irene MacWilliam who lives in
Belfast. Aslaug is not a quilter, but she makes wonderful crafts from wool
and other materials. She and Carl live in a picturesque house with a road frontage and a big garden
behind the house. The first I noticed when stepping into the entrance hall
was the floor. The stone floor in this house was a sight. The history of the floor,
house and village here is another story which we will return to later. I
did take som photos and I have made a pattern! After our pleasant days with Aslaug and
Carl in Crossgar, we then went back to Dublin. Now to visit quilters.
Return to Dublin
Our
Dublin base was a light and pleasant room in a brick house
containing four rooms to rent. It was a B&B and with the sweetest
irish "mom" who kept the room and cared for us every day. It was not only
a cheap place in a nice district, but the best service and a very friendly
host family.The other tourists there were lovely italians and
americans. They were young students who had come to Dublin to experience St.
Patrick's Day. Anne-Line who's married to an intalian, changed her
language to italian and it became quilte lively around us at the breakfast
table. The son in this house played piano quite well, and to my questions about dinner
he told us about Fagan. "You should absolutely eat dinner at
Fagan's", he said quite emphatically the first day, when he
understood it was friday we talked about, and tried to describe Fagan's
menu for us as well he could. Anne-Line gathered our things to bring in
a small backpack and we walked the way the pub. Only many days later we
realized that special kind of people had been seated by our side. Six men
in grey suits had been looking at ignorant norwegians,
who differed less from the clientele than them selves. It was the Prime
Minister who ate dinner at Fagen's every friday evening. Without guard! Bertie Ahern!
Visiting Mary Sloan and some of the members of IPS Eastern
branche
Our kind landlady had rang both quilter Mary Sloan and quilter Mary O'Reilley
while we were in Northern Ireland, and explained for Mary O the way to our
haunt in Crossroad terrace. Mary O came to pick us up and brought us
to the Chair of IPS. She had suggested a certain date for our
meeting, because on this day we could be picked up by and also we
would get the chance to see her beautiful things. We came safely to Mary
Sloan in Ashleigh
Grove, Castleknock in Dublin this day.
From the left Mary, Ann, Terri and Vera
In addition to the four of us, more ladies came as well to meet
with us and show some of their own quilts. Mary velcomed all of us in her
kitchen, for a spread and coffee and some very tasty cakes. Mary served a delicious lunch this day. A wooden kitchen table with
cakes tempted us when we came, and likewise a savoury lunch. Standing buffet, because
the table in the sitting room was taken, for the quilts. We ate, talked, chatted,
took photos and notes, and had a wonderful time. Irish people are quite
pleasant and they speak
english, so it's easy to understand what they say. Irish is
incomprehensible if one hasn't studied the language, and only 353.000 of
the country's 4 million people speak irish regularly.
The
ladies in Dublin enjoy themselves, and after lunch the irish
quilters showed their own quilts. Mary Sloan, Mary O'Reilly, Mary McCourt, Miriam Gogarty, the
former Chair of IPS, Vera Ryan, Ann O'Rafferty and Terri McNeill. "Am I doing patchwork, can I
join you, then?" Mary M once asked, the woman who only utilized old fabric.
We recognize the façade of Ryan's Pub in Parkgate street in one of her
unique works in frame and glaze.
At first we saw their Guide for the blind
dogs ruffles quilts, three huge and beautiful quilts. Then each and one showed
us their own quilts afterwards. They talked and told a bit about the
quilts while Mary O lifted them up. On our drive to Mary S, Mary O told us about Irish Patchwork
Society.
IPS
was founded in 1981 when three women interested in patchwork and textiles
arranged a meeting in the National Gallery im Dublin.100 people
came to the first meeting. Irish Patchwork Society is celebrating their 25th Anniversary in
2006 and will have two exhibitions. The first one, their National
Exhibition is called "First quarter". The other is a
retrospective exhibition where they get a chance to look back at quilts
produced over the last 25 years.
An annual membership costs 40 € and for this they get a fine
magazine four times per year. Their membership year starts in September,
and when a member theyreceive a quarterly newsletter, may attend branch meetings,
participate in branch and national organised events such as
exhibitions and workshops with local and international speakers and
teachers,become a member of the European Quilting Association.The most important benefit of membership of the IPS is the opportunity
for them to meet and learn from quilters of all levels, styles and
interests, traditional and contemporary. Today they have over 400 members
and 7 affiliated branches Eastern, North-Eastern, Western, Mid-Western, Southern, South-Eastern and
South
Midlands.
Mary S showed us some interesting photos, made by a quilter from Belfast, the
same city where she was born. The quilter's name is Irene MacWilliam, and
Quilteposten will return to this woman. The next day, though, we
meet Mary Sloan again, in fromt of the Trinity college in Dublin.
Anne-Line, Mary and I walked to the nicest and biggest cafe in Dublin. It
is such a wonderful place where one can eat, drink and talk in peace. We
had a good lunch and we talked with Mary about everything. and Anne-Line
and I visited National Gallery later that day. But how time flies, a week is not enough. Our familiy member,
quilter friends, and gatherings with other interesting people other places,
have all given us a good time.
Quilts made by the rirsh quilters we met
See photos of the irish quilts.
Irish quilt blocks
