What lies beneath: Ireland’s carpet cottage industry

There’s a sea change happening underfoot: homeowners have woken up to the possibility of creating a unique and cocooned space by investing in bespoke carpets and rugs.

Ireland is home to a small cottage industry of bespoke carpet and rug making – the kind that can make a home feel unique from the ground up.

The names of the makers are listed in the little black books of some of the world’s top decorators.

Decorator Nina Campbell and design group Gensler’s international work includes the Shanghai Tower, Facebook’s headquarters in Menlo Park in California and Uniqlo stores worldwide. They have the Dixon Carpet Company (originally V’Soke carpets), based in Oughterard, Connemara, on speed dial because their carpets are, as novelist Maeve Binchy put it in one of her books, like “walking on clouds”. The company’s client list includes the Sultan of Oman, members of the Royal family of Dubai, Lord Linley, Colefax and Fowler and JP Morgan as well as internationally renowned hotels such as the Dorchester in London.

Every design is made to order, save for the fireside rugs made by trainees that are sold in the factory shop in the West of Ireland. These three foot by five food designs cost about €200, while a hall, stairs and landing commission costs from €10,000 to €20,000 depending on the size.

The company uses mainly New Zealand wool but includes about 10 per cent Irish wool in the mix. While fantastically strong, Irish wool contains a lot of black fibre, a negative if you want to dye the carpet a pale colour.

The corporate world loves the extra deep pile underfoot. Managing director Tony Dixon calls it “the hush hush factor”. As well as offering acoustic softening, deep pile carpeting helps ensure that what is being discussed in private meeting rooms stays there – something Dixon’s legal clients especially appreciate.

Carol Bellamy, who sources 20th Century pieces for clients in the auction houses of Europe, loves the work of Dublin-based Rugs By Design, whose clients include the Shelbourne and Powerscourt hotels.

“Clients love the 18 ml pile which is deep and luxurious,” says managing director David Geragaty, who learned his craft in California’s Orange County, where he made rugs for Sylvester Stallone and for hotels in Las Vegas. “Our custom-made carpets and rugs offer three times the weight and wear of an off-the-shelf purchase and are made to fit your home perfectly.” They cost from €250 per square metre, about two and half times the price of a good wool carpet.

Ceadogán Rugs, based in Co Wexford, is run by former farmer Denis Kenny and his teacher wife, Fiona Gilboy, who bought the business from Tom Ceadogán in 1989. Their engagement with some of Ireland’s leading designers singles Ceadogán out. They hired Liz Nilsson early in her career and liaised with the estate of abstract artist Mainie Jellett to turn her designs for rugs into real physical entities. The pair also collaborate with the Listening Suite, an audio boutique on Dublin’s Wicklow Street, which gives them a place to demonstrate the sound dampening aspect of their rugs.

The company engaged ceramicist Andrew Ludick to create the latest collection, a series of highly colourful designs, available in the round only. Prices for Ceadogán rugs start at €750 per square metre. The Jelletts cost twice that. You can see a pair of them hanging in the café in the National Gallery.

In the fishing hub of Killybegs, Donegal Carpets once made flooring that was so well regarded that it graced the floors of the White House, Buckingham Palace and our own Dublin Castle, Áras an Uachtaráin and Kilkenny Castle. The community-run Killybegs International Carpet Making and Fishing Centre is housed in the old Donegal Carpets premises and still has some of the looms. By using a tiny group of hand knotters who worked with the original company, they can still make the high-end rugs and carpets to order. An 8ft by 5ft design will cost an eye watering €10,000 and take at least three months to complete.

Ceadogan.ie; thelisteningsuite.ie; rugsbydesign.ie; visitkillybegs.com; thedixoncarpetcompany.com