The National College
Design Staff
Rachel O'Connell, BA, MA
Lecturer, Woven Textiles
After working and studying in London for 10 Years Rachel O’Connell returned to Ireland in 2000 to start a business designing and producing high quality woven products.
With a broad range of experience in the architectural and interiors fields, as well as in trend prediction and textile design the vision was to bring together contemporary design and traditional Irish weaving techniques and raw materials.
| 1999 | MA RCA Constructed Textiles (Royal College of Art, London) Main areas of research: Computer aided design of woven jacquard fabric; new metal-fiber yarns. |
| 1997 | BA Textile Design (Central St. Martins College of Art and Design) |
| 2001 | M50 Enterprise Platform Program (Institute of Technology Tallaght) |
| Grants and Awards | |
| 2003 | Runner up prize for the Golden Fleece Award |
| 2003 | Showcase 2003 New Product Award: Category winner for Interiors and Tabletop |
| 2002 | Winner of the Lillias Mitchell Award for report “Developing Hand-Weaves for Batch Production” |
| 2002 | New Faces Stand awarded by Crafts Council of Ireland |
| 2002 | Showcase 2002 New Product Award: Category winner for Interiors and Tabletop |
| 2001 | E-Business Award from South Dublin Enterprise Board |
| 1999 | Winner of the Lillias Mitchell Award for thesis “Weave Design and New Technology” |
| 1999 | Best New Entrant in EBS Craft Competition hosted by the RDS |
| 1998 | Study Scholarship from the British Federation of Women Graduates |
| 1998 | Winner of competition held by John Lewis for furnishing fabrics. |
| 1997 | Winner of competition held by Mulberry for furnishing fabric |
Recent Exhibitions
“Of Colour in Craft” a traveling group exhibition hosted by the Crafts Council of Ireland. Currently touring the U.S.
The collection “Colours of the City” is a series of eight cushion designs based on photographs taken in London examining how colours can become invisible in the city unless you stop and take the time to look. Against a grey background the most mundane details, objects or architectural features can take on an individual beauty.
These new designs won the Best New Interior and Tabletop Product Award at Showcase 2003.
