Artist Cara Donaghey launches 'Súilí' range of tote bags that draw on beauty of home

The Buncrana woman knows more than most about the beauty and connectivity of art and has utilised both her talent and that yearning to create ‘Súilí,’ a stunning range of tote bags adorned with images of local landmarks.

Despite only officially launching around a month ago, the pieces – which feature Cara’s sketches of emotive places such as Grianan of Aileach, St Mary’s Hall and Rodden’s Bar – have been a huge hit.

They are being purchased not only by people living abroad, who are keen to hold on to home, but also by locals, who are delighted to show off and celebrate where they’re from.

Cara is a well-known visual artist and printmaker and has featured in exhibitions in the north west and beyond.

Studio Súilí is the more ‘commercial’ part of her work, but also draws deep on her own loves and interests, including history, the ‘emotional resonance’ of place, memory and drawing.

In her fine art, Cara looks at the archive as a ‘concept’ and she told the Journal, is a ‘totally different part’ of her brain to Studio Súilí.

"It’s a lot about how we collect and archive things without realising it, If you consider the photos on your phone, that could be read as an archive of your life, even if you don’t think of it like that. I love pulling from, what we call, ‘found’ material, such as digital screenshots and ephemera and taking that and making it into an etching.”

Cara studied a BTEC Diploma Foundation Studies in Art & Design in North West Regional College, Derry, followed by BA (Hons) Fine Art Printmaking & Visual Culture at the National College of Art & Design, Dublin.

She has loved art and print since she was a child, fuelled by workshops she undertook at Artlink in Buncrana.

In August 2019, she join her partner, Connor, in Spain, to teach English as a foreign language. it was meant to be for nine months, but then the pandemic arrived and they stayed until July 2022.

The time allowed Cara to think about what she’d like to do going forward in her career and she told how she had always been drawn to the ‘more accessible form of print – be it tote bags, or maybe t-shirts, that kind of comes from skate and street culture’.

"I’m a drawer, I loved drawing, I had always wanted a tote bag with maybe Buncrana cinema on it, or Rodden’s Bar or O’Flahertys and I thought I would do that, give it a go and see how it went.”

She continued: “Tote bags are a fashion statement. Some people still see them as a shopping bag, but for young people they are definitely a fashion statement.”

The bags are being purchased and showcased by people all over the world, including San Francisco, London and Edinburgh.

"I love that. When I was in Spain, I really wanted something to connect me to Ireland and Donegal and Buncrana specifically. I’m not into sports. I wasn’t going to be wearing a Donegal top, as that’s not who I am, but I wanted something authentic and practical.”

The tote bags are all organic, as sustainability is hugely important to Cara and the printing of the images is an extensive process. Each tote bag image is drawn by Cara herself, who then creates a printing stencil, with each image then printed on by hand, following by drying and curing processes.

is Irish for ‘Swilly,’ and the Buncrana cinema/St Mary’s Hall bag is currently the most popular print, which doesn’t surprise Cara.

"It’s so nostalgic for people. For a lot of tourists, I think their first reaction when they think of Buncrana is the Castle Bridge. But when local people think about where they spend time or where they think about when they’re thinking of home, St Mary’s Hall is very much at the forefront. I think that’s why the cinema is so popular -so many people can relate to it and that’s what that connection is all about. I also love that they generate conversations and get people to talk about where they’re from or share memories from a place. That’s really important to me.”

Cara is delighted with the success of the bags so far and that she is able to do something she loves.

"I was speaking to Martha at Artlink recently and we were chatting about how I did Artlink courses as a child and then ended up going into the industry. That sensation of being in a workshop is so exciting and I still get that feeling. It’s so exciting and magical that something is going to be made there. Artlink and Tullyarvan Mill, where it was then, were so important to me as I was growing up.”

Cara is based in Derry Print Workshop and in terms of ‘administration’ for the business, she is also based in Inishowen Innovation Hub, which she showers with praise.

"It has been an absolute Godsend. Annemarie has been so helpful and it’s been great for me, as someone who has come back to the town, to be able to be based there.”

Cara is hoping to expand in the future to create totebags featuring other well-known local landmarks. You can check out her pieces at https://www.caradonaghey.com/studio-suili-store or on Instagram at Studio Suili

Cara is taking part in #buydonegal campaign to highlight the range of Donegal brands, products and services available in the county