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heritage · Tuesday 18 August 2026 · 10:00am 
Natural Dyeing for Beginners
At Yard Studios · Ballisodare, Co. Sligo
At Yard Studios · Ballisodare, Co. Sligo
A free hands-on workshop in traditional natural dyeing is a rare find, and this one lands during National Heritage Week - a fortnight when crafts that were once everyday knowledge get their proper moment in the light. Held at Yard Studios in Ballisodare, just south of Sligo town, the session is led by Mary Cooper, a Sligo-based wool crafter who works from raw fleece and hand dyes using natural materials sourced in the north-west. If you have ever pulled a plant from a hedgerow and wondered what colour it might give, this is where you start finding out.
The workshop is pitched squarely at beginners, so no experience with dyeing, spinning, or textiles is assumed. Mary Cooper will walk participants through the basics of extracting colour from natural materials - plants, lichens, roots, and the like - and applying those dyes to fibre. You will learn how mordanting works (the process that fixes dye to material), why different fibres take colour differently, and how dyers across Ireland historically worked with what grew around them.
Two sessions are available on the day: a morning slot running 10:00am to 12:00pm, and a shorter afternoon session from 2:30pm to 3:30pm. The morning gives more time to work through the process at a relaxed pace; the afternoon session suits those who want an introduction rather than full immersion. The event is free and part of National Heritage Week 2026, which runs 15 to 23 August across the country.
Ballisodare is on the N17, roughly 10km south of Sligo town - about 12 minutes by car. From Sligo town, Bus Eireann services on the Sligo - Tubbercurry - Galway corridor stop in Ballisodare. By rail, Ballisodare station has limited services; Sligo town is a better arrival point and the village is an easy taxi or bus ride from there. If driving from Dublin, the N4 brings you directly into Sligo; from Galway, the N17 runs straight through.
Ballisodare itself sits on the Owenmore river, and Sligo town is close enough to make a full day of it - the Model arts centre, Sligo Abbey, and the Yeats connection all reward the detour. There is more to see in Sligo and across Co. Sligo.
Heading to Yard Studios in Sligo? Sligo has plenty more to see. Read the Sligo area guide, find what else is on, and explore the towns and villages nearby.