Design expert to speak at Mayo museum on distinctive Irish chair

AUTHOR and lecturer Dr. Marion McGarry will be giving a special talk at the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life, Turlough Park, Castlebar, on Saturday, March 4, exploring the relevance of a distinctive three-legged Irish chair type, known as the Sligo or Tuam chair.

Dr. McGarry is an expert in vernacular Irish furniture and design, as well as Irish customs, and is the author of The Irish Cottage: History, Culture and Design and Irish Customs and Rituals: How our Ancestors Celebrated Life and the Seasons.

She is a lecturer in Furniture History and Design Elements at ATU Connemara (formerly GMIT Letterfrack) and has been involved in an ATU partnership project with the National Museum of Ireland - Country Life, inspired by the Sligo/Tuam chair.

The project saw a group of emerging designers from ATU craft their own contemporary interpretations of the Sligo/Tuam chair. A selection of these modern designs is now on display in the museum as part of the temporary exhibition Our Irish Chair: Tradition Revisited.

Dr. McGarry’s talk will examine the relevance of the Sligo/Tuam chair in a modern context and showcase the design processes and superb work of the furniture design students involved in the project.

This is a free event at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 4, in association with the temporary exhibition Our Irish Chair: Tradition Revisited.

Places are limited and booking is required. Telephone the museum bookings office on (094) 9031751 or email educationtph@museum.ie.

Visit https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/Museums/Country-Life for further information.