This exhibition examines the contemporary and historical practice of folk medicine in Ireland. Drawing from personal interviews and archival research, traditional plant lore is combined with magico-religious beliefs about ‘the cure’, inherited healing abilities, the concept of the bean feasa and the role of place.

Inspired by the curative qualities of the Brat Bhríde, over the past year, medicinal plants found in Irish folklore have been gathered to make natural dyes with the resulting dyed fabric combined to create a textile work symbolising a panacea – a cure-all. Additionally, the exhibition will include drawings and a short film on the subject of folk healers. This exhibition expands upon an ongoing series called The Kildare Folklore Pharmacy and has been supported by Kildare County Council Arts Service.

About the Artist

Sheena Malone is a visual arts practitioner based in Berlin and Allenwood. A graduate of UCD and Stockholm University, in 2015 she was selected for CuratorLab at Konstfack Stockholm for a research programme investigating local Kildare folklore which led to the exhibition Seven for a Story and the festival of contemporary art and local history called Invisible Stories in 2017. In 2020, the Irish Embassy in Germany included her in their New Irish Creatives Festival. Recent exhibitions include Spicebag at Backhaus Projects Berlin, The Bud on the Bough curated by Michael Fortune and Displacement and Belonging at Rua Red.

McKenna Gallery
Saturday 11^th November – Thursday 21^st December
Monday-Friday 9:30am-5pm | Saturday 10am-1pm
Admission Free

Official opening Saturday 11 November, 6pm – all welcome

Image credit:

NFCS 771:202; John Brilly, Rathcoffey North, Co. Kildare, 1936. Teacher: Bean Uí Laideáin

Image © National Folklore Collection, UCD