Botanical Buncrana was a craft, engineering, science, botany, and heritage project that explored relationships between local wildflowers, plant fibres, and the town’s industrial heritage. The local community participated in creative workshops to collect local plants, construct a contemporary spinning machine, and spin yarns to knit or construct art works from.
Artlink, in association with Eco Buncrana, invited the local community to take part in eight creative workshops during April–May 2026. Participants included former workers from McCarter’s of Buncrana, the textile factory that merged with Fruit of the Loom in 1987 and once employed around 3,000 people across the island of Ireland.
The workshops involved former workers, including John McCarter himself. Two of the sessions involved Tiernan Stuart, who built a contemporary automatic spinning machine from basic materials. The workshops highlighted the ingenuity and knowledge of the local workforce that helped establish McCarter’s ambitious vertically integrated textile production at Campsie despite pressure to relocate the factory abroad.
Led by artists Gillian Steel and Emma Porter, alongside Claire Thompson Moore and Tiernan Stuart, the programme combined foraging, hands-on making, storytelling, and experimental filmmaking. Participants gathered local plants responsibly, learned about Ireland’s long history of plant fibres such as flax and hemp, and experimented with spinning fibres into yarn.
Later sessions transformed these materials into speculative objects and used plant chemistry to create images and process 16mm film using environmentally responsible botanical methods. The project celebrated community knowledge, local resources, and shared heritage, encouraging participants to rediscover connections between landscape, craft, and industry in Buncrana. The workshops had a broad appeal and were open to anyone over the age of 18. Organisers were particularly interested in engaging people who had worked at McCarter’s Factory/Fruit of the Loom, local artists, makers, and environmental groups. The workshops were free to attend and took place at St Mary’s Hall, Buncrana.
Booking for the workshops was managed via email at info@artlink.ie with the subject line “Botanical Buncrana Workshop”.
Skills and Knowledge
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Gillian Steel: Belfast-based artist who was a PhD researcher at Belfast School of Art during the project. Gillian is a filmmaker & design activist driven by sensory aspects and drawn by the alchemical artifice of making stuff—how things come to be, and the qualities of the materials involved.
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Emma Porter: Emma Porter is a Buncrana-based artist with a background in fashion, fine art, and design for creative practice. She is interested in biodiversity and working with our environment to highlight the importance and impact of all life on the ecosystem in which we live.
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Tiernan Stuart: Engineer and researcher Tiernan Stuart is one of the last remaining active and published researchers of flax science in Ireland. He has some 30 years’ experience in numerous branches of textile technology and is part of a movement to revitalise the linen industry in Ireland.
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Claire Thompson Moore: Claire Thompson Moore is a herbalist and forager. Inspired by her naturalist parents, she has a background in conservation and species recording. She blends science and tradition, teaching botany, ecology, and plant uses while encouraging a reciprocal, respectful relationship with the natural world.
The workshops took place on April 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th, and May 7th, 14th, 28th.
Artlink gratefully acknowledged the financial support of Creative Ireland and Donegal County Council in realising this project.
