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arts · Tuesday 7 July 2026 · Various 
Flowing...a Legacy from Stitch to Shoreline - Exhibition by Ailish Malone
At Culturlann Sweeney Library Gallery · Culturlann Sweeney, Kilkee, Co. Clare
At Culturlann Sweeney Library Gallery · Culturlann Sweeney, Kilkee, Co. Clare
A free exhibition of paintings and mixed-media works by County Clare artist Ailish Malone runs at Cultúrlann Sweeney Library Gallery in Kilkee from 7 July to 2 August 2026. The show draws together layered acrylics, inks, glazes and found objects into a body of work rooted in the landscapes most personal to Malone - the River Shannon estuary and the Atlantic coast. If you are spending time in west Clare this summer and want something more than the beach, this is a worthwhile hour in a proper gallery setting, free to walk in.
The title carries two threads that run through Malone’s practice. Her father worked as a fisherman and her mother sewed and knitted; the sea and the textile both find their way into her canvases. Working in multiple layers - acrylic, ink, texture mediums, pastels and glazing - she builds up surfaces that shift between representation and abstraction. The result is paintings that feel more like weather than still images: tidal, atmospheric, restless.
Malone is an all-season sea swimmer and coastal walker, and she collects on those walks - rocks, shells, seaweed - materials that turn up in the finished work. The exhibition is presented by Clare Arts Office in conjunction with Cultúrlann Sweeney Library Gallery, and her website at ailishmaloneart.com carries a broader look at her practice.
Kilkee sits at the tip of the Loop Head Peninsula on the west Clare coast, roughly 45 minutes south-west of Ennis on the N68. From Limerick allow around an hour via Ennis. Bus Éireann runs services to Kilkee from Ennis and Limerick, though the timetable is limited - check before you travel. Cultúrlann Sweeney is in the town centre; Kilkee itself is compact and parking is available on the streets around the seafront.
Kilkee’s horseshoe bay, the pollock holes and the cliff walk to the Diamond Rocks are all within easy reach of the gallery. The Loop Head Lighthouse is a short drive further west and worth the trip on a clear day. There is more to see in Kilkee and across Co. Clare.
Heading to Culturlann Sweeney Library Gallery in Kilkee? Clare has plenty more to see. Read the Kilkee area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.