What are the opening hours?

Monday 9am - 5pm Tuesday 9am - 5pm Wednesday 9am - 5pm Thursday 9am - 5pm Friday 9am - 5pm

Burren College of Art

Home
Ireland
Ballyvaughan
Burren College of Art

Call Directions Website

Our mission is to be a hothouse of artists- reflective and challenging; remote and connected; at the confluence of cultures.

Registered Irish Charity (RCN: 20040697) Burren College of Art is an internationally recognised not-for-profit independent college specialising in undergraduate and graduate fine art education. We offer artists and art students from around the world time, space and inspiration within the unique environment of the Burren. The Master of Fine Art programme is accredited by the National University of Ireland, Galway and is operated in association with the Royal College of Art, London and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Our undergraduate Study Abroad programmes, Summer School and Artist Residency Scheme also recruit internationally.

29/10/2026

OCEAN VOICES | Jacquelyn Dale (JD) Whitman
A Community-Based Marine Literacy Installation

Please join us for the opening of Ocean Voices, the PhD graduate exhibition of Jacquelyn Dale (JD) Whitman at Burren College of Art.

Ocean Voices is a community-driven immersive installation that transforms recycled plastic materials into an artistic statement on marine biodiversity and plastic pollution in Irish waters.

Co-created with students and faculty from Atlantic Technological University’s Early Childhood Education and Care programme, the installation features a large-scale, enterable inflatable structure made from plastic collected during beach clean-ups around Galway Bay, alongside tactile sculptural elements, layered soundscapes and illuminated digital projections.

Opening Reception: Thursday 5 November, 6–8pm
Exhibition: 5–24 November 2026
The Gallery, Burren College of Art
Monday–Friday, 10am–5pm
All welcome!

🔗To learn more about the exhibition, please visit the link in our bio.

Supported by the Arts Council, ATU, Galway Childcare Committee, Galway Atlantaquaria, the Marine Institute and the Irish American Partnership.

29/10/2026

Last Thursday, the Environmental Studies class, led by Professor Tamaru Hunt Joshi, visited Fanore Beach and its surrounding sand dunes to explore the coastal landscape and its ecology.

Students also took part in a beach clean-up during their visit, collecting discarded fishing nets and other litter washed ashore.

Photos courtesy of Tamaru Hunt Joshi (Tamaru Hunt-Joshi)

26/10/2026

Wednesday Session | Maitiú Mac Cárthaigh | Wednesday 28 October @ 11am

Please join us this Wednesday for a talk by Maitiú Mac Cárthaigh (they/them), an interdisciplinary artist and PhD researcher at the Centre for Irish Studies, University of Galway.

Their practice explores the sexual politics of Irish rural futures, examining how q***r individuals are assimilated into dominant cultural narratives to create an image of a more progressive and civilised rural idyll. Through their research, they consider these processes in relation to rural gentrification and the changing role of agriculture in rural communities.

Maitiú has received the Arts Council Visual Artist Bursary for two consecutive years.

11am | Lecture Hall, Burren College of Art

Our Wednesday Sessions are open to the public. All welcome!

Photo: John Beasley, via the Irish Examiner. Taken at LHQ Gallery, Cork County Hall.

21/10/2026

Cúpla Focal | Alvy Carragher

A reading of Cúpla Focal by Alvy Carragher, recipient of the 2026 David Whyte Poet-in-Residence Award at Burren College of Art.

Alvy joined us for a four-week residency in September, spending time developing her work within the Burren and the creative community at BCA.

A Dublin-based poet, Alvy is the author of three poetry collections, most recently What Remains the Same (The Gallery Press, 2024).

The David Whyte Poet-in-Residence Award is made possible through the generous support of poet David Whyte.

19/10/2026

“Certain things become possible when you collaborate that you can’t foresee or plan.” — John Strutton

In this short excerpt from a conversation with John Strutton, Riccardo Carbone and Marissa Stoffer, John reflects on the connections between the three collaborations in Burren Annual 2026–Original Copy: Mushrooms, Megaliths and Maculate Monuments.

We can’t thank enough for the generous loan of John Cage’s Mushroom Book (1972).

Final week to visit!
The exhibition closes this Friday, 23rd of October.

The Gallery, Burren College of Art
Monday–Friday, 10am–5pm. All welcome.

16/10/2026

A few moments from the opening of Burren Annual 2026 — Original Copy: Mushrooms, Megaliths and Maculate Monuments.

An evening of art, live performance and conversation in The Gallery. Thank you to everyone who came along and shared it with us!

A special thank you to David Donohue ( David Donohue ), who joined the artists for an impromptu live performance, and to Limerick City Gallery of Art ( Limerick City Gallery of Art )for the generous loan of John Cage’s Mushroom Book (1972).

Featuring work by Original Copy (Riccardo Carbone and John Strutton), in collaboration with John Cage, George Shaw and Marissa Stoffer.

There’s still time to visit — the exhibition runs until Friday 23 October at Burren College of Art.

The Gallery is open Monday–Friday, 10am–5pm. All welcome.

MarissaStoffer

12/10/2026

Wednesday Session | Grace Wells & David Teevan | Wednesday 14 October @ 11am

✨ Please join us for this week’s Wednesday Session with eco-poet Grace Wells and creative producer David Teevan.

Grace and David will present Hometree’s eco-arts project Dinnseanchas, an ongoing artist-led process supporting nature and community resilience in the face of climate change, biodiversity loss and other eco-social pressures affecting rural Ireland.

The presentation will include Grace’s eco-poetry film and an introduction to the project, which is currently touring County Clare, including at glór, Ennis, from 15–18 October.

🗣️ Our Wednesday Sessions are open to the public, so please join us this Wednesday at 11am in the Lecture Hall.

11/10/2026

A visit from BCA alumna Kathryn Coneway 🌿

Kathryn recently returned to Burren College of Art, where she spent eight weeks studying in the summer of 1997.

“I’ve been reading my journals from my time there nearly 30 years ago and it is interesting to see the seeds of ideas that are still with me in my life and work.”
— Kathryn Coneway

Thank you for visiting, it was lovely to have you back in the Burren!

📷 Kathryn with BCA President Mary Green during her recent visit, alongside photographs she shared from 1997.

07/10/2026

Introduction to Plant Dyes 🌿

Today at BCA, alumna Katerina Gribkoff led an introduction to natural dyeing with plants.

Students learned about preparing fabrics and fibres for natural dyeing, as well as eco-printing and bundle dyeing methods, working with plant material gathered from BCA’s Living Materials Garden. Katerina also shared some of her knowledge around making plant inks and pigments.

Katerina has been caring for the garden over the summer, and today’s workshop offered a chance to work directly with some of the plants growing there.

A big thank you to Katerina for sharing her knowledge with us 🌱

Photos: and BCA student Nicole Monahan

05/10/2026

We’re hiring an Admin Coordinator.

We’re looking for an organised and proactive person to join the team here at Burren College of Art.

Full-time · On-site
Salary: €38–40K, reflective of experience

To apply, send your CV and cover letter to [email protected].

Closing date: Wednesday, 14 October at 5pm.

🔗For full details, follow the link in our bio.

http://www.burrencollege.ie/vacancies

Address

Newtown Castle
Ballyvaughan
COUNTYCLARE

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 5pm
Friday	9am - 5pm

Telephone

+353657077200

Website

https://linktr.ee/burrencollege

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Burren College of Art posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.