Céad Míle Fáilte

Welcome to the 1st annual International Quilt Festival of Ireland. On behalf of the Irish Patchwork Society, Northern Ireland Patchwork Guild, the Quilter's Guild of Ireland and Sew Many Places, we are happy to have you join us and extend to you a very warm welcome to this one-of-a-kind festival.

Entry to the Quilter's Village

Only 15 euros per person per day or get a three day pass for 28 euros per person.

Visiting with a group?

A group of ten or more people is
13 euros per day and 25 euros
for a three day pass.

Unlike other quilt festivals and conventions held around the world, where all the functions take place in an enormous convention hall, our festival will be located on the beautiful NUI campus in Galway, Ireland, where we are designing a special Quilter’s Village on the banks of the River Corrib. Here you’ll be able to walk around and enjoy all the special attractions this village has to offer. There will be a Quilter’s Market where you can buy everything from Irish crafts to traditional Irish Brown Bread, the Fat Quarters Chocolate Shop, a School House for our hands-on quilting classes, a Quilter's Canteen that seats over 800 people, over a dozen special quilt exhibits on display in various buildings throughout the village, and the Town Hall, where you will find over 50 vendors who have created booths to tease you with their latest state-of-the-art products and services!

You can also visit the Wicked Thimble Pub, where you can relax and enjoy yourself as you listen to live Irish music in a pub atmosphere. There’s even the local village movie house where you’ll be able to see the 1950’s John Wayne – Maureen O’Hara movie, “The Quiet Man,” filmed just a couple miles from our Quilter’s Village.

Our festival in Ireland will introduce some first-time ever events never before seen at an international quilt festival. First, we have designed an entire program for non-quilters to enjoy. It is a full, three-day program of activities and sightseeing that will keep all non-quilters happy and busy all day. Please click on the NON-QUILTERS PROGRAM button to learn more.

Second, because quilters are creative individuals by nature and enjoy all kinds of crafts, there is no place better in the world than Ireland for making traditional crafts. Therefore, we are offering over a dozen CRAFT WORKSHOPS to enjoy while you are at the festival. These workshops are taught by local craft artists in their studios, and since the number of participants for each workshop will be no more than ten people, registering early is highly recommended.

This is just a quick overview of what our festival has to offer. Take your time and look through this website thoroughly. For those of you who would like to make quilts for any of our exhibits, you will learn more by clicking on the EXHIBITS button.

Finally, we have designed TOURS of Ireland to enhance your visit to the festival. Be sure you take a moment to see what tours would best suit your timeframe and budget. If you have any questions or need any special assistance, be sure to contact me directly. It will be my pleasure to assist in any way I can. Thanks for stopping by, and I look forward to seeing you at our festival next year!

Jim West