Photo credit:Jill O'Meara Photography
Meath’s Creative Cluster Set to Blossom At This Year’s Bord Bia Bloom
Thursday 15th May 2025, 12:24 pm
A selection of County Meath’s best craft and design businesses will be part of this year’s Bord Bia Bloom event in Dublin’s Phoenix Park taking place on the June Bank Holiday weekend (Thursday, May 29 to Monday, June 2).
In total, 11 members of Meath Made, which is County Meath’s creative cluster, are showcasing and selling their products at this five-day festival of gardening, food and fun.
For the second year in a row, eight members from Meath Made will also come together to operate a collective shop at Bloom.
Shoppers from across Ireland will have an opportunity to view and purchase the work of eight Meath based craft, design makers. The Meath Made stand will be situated in the Grand Pavilion, Indoor Shopping area. (stand number G117). Visitors to the Meath Made stand can meet with the makers behind the business and connect with Meath based craftspeople, learn about their stories, see the quality and value of the wonderful range of products that are designed and made right here in the Boyne Valley.
Supported by the Local Enterprise Office Meath, the Meath Made collective shop is a special area at Bloom that houses a range of Meath’s finest design and craft talent. The shop will run throughout the five days of Bloom.
The eight businesses from Meath include:Boann Irish Felt Designs,Roisin and Robin, Unique Gifts,PaperTwigs Designs,The Patchwork Peacock,Púróga Pebble Art,Darych Designs,Frayne Woodcraft, andDawn McGrath Art.
Over 100,000 visitors attended Bord Bia Bloom in 2024, with the Meath Made stand making a big impact with visitors especially delighted to find such high quality and unique products made locally from authentic craftspeople.
Now in its second year, the hope is that the Meath Made stand will once again be a destination for shoppers who truly value products that are made to last, made by hand from small Irish businesses. The Meath Made shop aims to inspire shoppers to think about their purchasing habits to choose sustainable, locally produced high quality goods.
Other participants from Meath Made includeAnita Reynolds Art & Design, Bríd Fanning ArtandSíobhan Daly Designs. All will be selling their products from the Design Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCI) area within Bloom.
Kieran Kehoe, Chief Executive of Meath County Councilsaid: “Bloom is a terrific place to showcase these local creative businesses and educate the modern shopper about locally designed products, all of which are handmade right here in County Meath. It is great to see the collaboration amongst the creative businesses coming together to operate a Meath Made shop once again this year.
“We are blessed to have an abundance of creativity in County Meath, dating back to our earliest ancestors who created megalithic art right here in the Boyne Valley, renowned the world over and I wish all those from Meath exhibiting and selling at Bord Bia Bloom this year the very best of luck and hope that it is a profitable time for them.”
Speaking from his workshop in the village of Kildalkey, Damian Spain ofFrayne Woodcraftsaid: “I am delighted to be part of the Meath Made stand at Bloom this year and I am really busy preparing products. I will be selling wooden bowls, chopping boards, walking sticks and lots more.”
Damian specialises in bespoke woodturning and stick dressing, as well as producing functional and decorative items from locally sourced Irish hardwoods. Damian believes his high-quality craftsmanship will appeal to the Bloom shoppers and looks forward to chatting to the Bloom visitor about Irish mythology, folklore and the landscape heritage which he incorporates into many of his pieces.
Damian went on to say: “You can’t beat talking to customers face to face, telling them the story of the products, watching their reaction and listening to their feedback and hopefully making a few sales along the way.”
Dawn McGrath, who is based in Trim and ownsDawn McGrath Artsaid: “I can’t wait to meet people from around Ireland and have conversations about our natural landscape which inspires me daily to create original artwork, with the intention of bringing nature into the home.”
Dawn has created a new collection of work inspired by native Irish wildflowers especially for Bloom. Dawn is using her social media presence to encourage visitors to find the Meath Made stand and see all the wonderful products on offer to shoppers at Bord Bia Bloom 2025.
Caoimhe Delany, Business Advisor at LEO Meathis delighted to see Meath Made return to Bloom again and believes that this is a great opportunity for the eight creative businesses to make significant sales over the five days and develop new connections with customers and potential stockists.
“We are thrilled to see Meath Made run a collective shop at Bord Bia Bloom again this year. Last year, there was such positive feedback from shoppers who are searching for meaningful, locally made products. The sales for the first year at Meath Made were very good and there is ambition from the businesses to grow their sales again this year.”
For more information on Meath Made please visitwww.meathmade.com.
For business supports for creative, craft, design makers please visitwww.localenterprise.ie/meath
Background:
Bord Bia Bloom takes place over five dayson the June Bank Holiday weekend (Thursday May 29thto Monday June 2nd) running from 9am to 6pm daily. Bloom, which celebrates its 19th birthday in 2025, has been deemed one of the nations’ favourite summer events and takes place across 70 acres in the Phoenix Park.
Bord Bia Bloom is a world-class, uplifting, and innovative horticulture, food, and drink experience with nature and sustainable living at its heart. Originally created to promote plants, garden design, horticulture and gardening, Bord Bia’s role in promoting food and drink has allowed Bloom to develop further. The show has grown into something which not only makes for a great day out but also offers a huge range of practical information on everything from gardening, to growing fruit and vegetables, cooking and culture, homewares crafts and fashion.
