One of the country's top carpet designers, Ceadogan Rugs, is moving shop and hosting a retrospective exhibition in its new premises to coincide with the nearby Wexford Opera Festival.
Denis Kenny and Fiona Gilboy have taken their bold contemporary designer rugs out of all retail outlets and placed them instead amid the old stones and red brick of an 18th-century farm in south west Wexford, where Denis Kenny spent his childhood. The quality of the rugs speaks for itself and the new showrooms in restored stables overlooking the autumnal browns and golds of Bannow Bay create a perfect backdrop for the rugs.
Apart from making good use of old stables and cowsheds which no longer serve the modern day farmer, the couple has taken the brave step of moving into full control of design, production and sales of their individually designed, gun-tufted (by hand) masterpieces. "We may be back in the shops in two years' time but right now, we feel it makes sense to develop our own showrooms. Generally, shops could only take four or five of our rugs which were not always representative of our work. Here, you will find such a variety," says Gilboy. The designs have been inspired by Egyptian, African, Inuit and Celtic art known as Pagan Graffiti. Commissioned rugs cost from £300 upwards, depending on size and design.
Partners in life as well as business, Gilboy and Kenny bought Ceadogan Rugs seven years ago from its founder-owner, Tom Cadogan, a dyehouse master with Youghal Carpet Yarns. They then set about teaching themselves the skills needed to design and make the rugs. an They now employ two other people, Sheila Naughton in design and Margaret Casey in production. Work-in-progress includes a series of rugs for the new houses being built on the Mount Juliet estate in Co Kilkenny.
"The strength of the work is its individuality. Not many people come and say I want that rug. Generally, they want a different colour combination or size," explains Kenny. The more striking designs are sometimes purchased as wall-hangings.
So if you are heading to Wexford for the Opera Festival, it would be well worth your while to visit their new shop - which also features a selection of the magnificent mythical figures created in ceramic and bronze by Enniskillen-based sculptor, Anthony Scott.
The Ceadogan Rug Shop is an Rugs and Ceramic and Bronze Sculpture by Anthony Scott is open daily from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. from today and runs through the Wexford Opera Festival. Directions: Follow the R733 from Wexford to Wellingtonbridge where you take a sharp left turn at Lamberts pub. Follow the road for about 3 km until you see a sign, pointing towards the Ceadogan Rug Shop up a narrow road to the left. Tel: 051-561348/9.