The Kiosk Project Art Space in Drogheda is inviting people across the North East to take part in a new research project exploring the use of native Irish plants as natural dyes.
The project, Plants of Ireland: Celebrating native Irish plants as dyestuffs in the North East, will be presented in late April by printmaker Emily Mc Gardle.
Ahead of the exhibition, Emily is asking people from Louth, Meath, Monaghan and Cavan to share their knowledge and memories of plants traditionally used to dye clothing and textiles.
The project aims to highlight the importance of native Irish plants, both historically and today, and to gather local knowledge that may otherwise be lost.
Across the four counties, there are 145 references to plant dyes recorded in the Schools Collection, including four from Drogheda. However, much of the traditional knowledge around dyeing has been lost over time, partly because dye houses historically kept their methods secret.
As a result, many people working with natural dyes today rely on non native plants, where more information is readily available.
People with first hand experience of natural dyes in the region are encouraged to get in touch with Emily Mc Gardle by email at emilymcgardle@gmail.com.
The closing date for submissions is Sunday, April 12, 2026.
Emily Mc Gardle is a printmaker from County Monaghan. She graduated from Dublin Institute of Technology in 2016 with a first class honours degree in Fine Art and went on to complete a masters in print at the Royal College of Art in London in 2020.
She has received the Droichead Arts Centre Artist Bursary 2021 to 2022, as well as Established Artist and Emerging Talent awards from Monaghan County Council’s Artist Support Scheme in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2025. In 2024, she received a Sculpture Practice award from Fire Station Artists’ Studios in Dublin, followed by the Print Network Ireland Tyrone Guthrie Centre residency award in 2025.
Emily was shortlisted for the Zurich Portrait Prize in 2022, the Trinity Buoy Wharf Working Drawing Award in 2023 and 2024, the Derwent Art Prize in 2024, and the AIB Portrait Prize in 2024, where she received a Highly Commended Award.
Her work is primarily focused on screenprinting and drawing, creating multi layer prints using hand drawn artwork. Her current work explores the surreal and often overlooked nature of Irish seanfhocail, where humans, animals and nature interact.
The Kiosk Project Art Space is located on Narrow West Street in Drogheda and operates as a creative hub, gallery, residency and production space led by visual artist and creative producer Brian Hegarty and Rita Hynes in collaboration with Droichead Arts Centre and its partners.
For more information, visit @kioskprojectartspace on Instagram or email thekioskprojectartspace@gmail.com.
