A working studio & shop in Donegal Town, Ireland
Handmade Ceramics from the Heart of Donegal
Founded in 2022, Kevin Callaghan Pottery is a working studio and shop in the heart of Donegal Town — one of Ireland's most distinctive handmade ceramics studios, where gestural earthenware pieces are made by hand, glazed with expressive bursts of colour, and shipped to homes around the world.
25 years working with clay, rooted in Donegal
Kevin Callaghan — Potter & Founder
Kevin returned from the UK in 2022 to open KCP, bringing with him over 25 years of working with clay and a career that has taken him from Kilkenny and Cork to Glasgow, London, Paris, China, and beyond. A graduate of Crawford College of Art, he holds a Master's from the Royal College of Art and a Master-craftsman qualification from the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland.
His work has been shown at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Saatchi Gallery, the London Art Fair, ZKM Museum in Karlsruhe, and the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven. In 2018 he represented Ireland at the Ceramic Context Biennale in Bornholm. He came home to Donegal in 2022 — and opened the doors of KCP.
A practice built over 25 years, shown internationally
Training, Craft & Exhibition History
Kevin Callaghan holds an MA from the Royal College of Art (2013), a BA from Crawford College of Art, Cork, and a Master-craftsman qualification from the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland. He has spent over 25 years developing a practice rooted in the making of gestural, expressive ceramics.
Selected exhibitions & residencies:
- MA | Royal College of Art, London (2013)
- BA | Crawford College of Art, Cork
- Master-craftsman | Design and Crafts Council of Ireland
- Victoria and Albert Museum, London | What is Luxury
- Saatchi Gallery, London | Young Masters Art Prize
- London Art Fair
- ZKM Museum, Karlsruhe, Germany
- Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven
- Ceramic Context Biennale, Bornholm | representing Ireland (2018)
- European Cultural Centre, Venice (2019)
- Irish Cultural Centre, Paris | residency (2021)
- National Sculpture Factory, Cork | residency
"We make beautiful, gestural earthenware ceramics — vessels with real energy in them, and colour that feels alive."
Kevin Callaghan, KCP
Wall pieces, lighting & mirrors — Donegal made
New Work from the Studio
This summer Kevin is developing a new series of wall pieces — geometric works that explore the relationship between form, colour, and the warm, porous surface of clay. It's a body of work with deep roots in his practice, exhibited internationally from the V&A to the Van Abbemuseum, and one that feels very much at home in Donegal.
The studio has also recently moved into lighting and mirrors — new work that carries the same handmade spirit as everything made here. Watch this space.
Over 25 years at the wheel
Ingrid Grollke
Ingrid's path to ceramics began early, shaped by Ursula Wiedemann — a family friend and accomplished German potter whose work sparked Ingrid's fascination with tableware and functional ware. That early influence became the seed of a lifelong career, and the reason she chose clay above everything else.
She went on to complete a three-year apprenticeship at a traditional pottery college in Landshut, Germany, grounding her in the discipline and rigour of the craft. Coming to Ireland, she found work as a thrower with Michael Kennedy, where she deepened her skill and continued to refine the functional, considered style that defines her work today.
Now, over 25 years on, Ingrid throws in the KCP studio in Donegal Town. It's an environment that gives her the freedom to focus on what she does best — making functional vessels that are quiet, beautifully resolved, and built to be used and loved. There's a generosity in work made to be handled every day, and it's a discipline she's spent a lifetime perfecting. She is, in every sense, the steady backbone of the studio.
Mark-making rooted in Donegal
Georgina Casey
Georgina Casey is a community artist and ceramicist based in beautiful Barnesmore, Donegal. Her creative journey began at her grandmother's busy dressmaking table, drawing on neatly cut offcuts of cardboard — an early love of visual mark-making that set her on the path towards Fine Art.
She trained in sculpture under the inspirational Fred Conlon and master potter Con Lynch, before earning a degree in Fine Art, majoring in painting and ceramics. It was here that her enduring interest in pattern, repetition, and colour took hold. Her visual world is deeply shaped by the generations of women before her, whose skill and creativity continue to motivate her work.
Using handmade stamps drawn from the Donegal landscape, Georgina repeats symbolic images across her ceramics to create truly unique pieces — 2D images, sculptural forms, and decorative ceramic objects that connect her to the emotional bonds between people and place. She has exhibited both individually and in group shows, and overseen major community art projects from securing funding through to completion. Alongside her own studio practice, she has worked at KCP for the past four years. With brush in hand, her mark-making endures.
Or shop online — we ship worldwide
Visit Us in Donegal Town
Kevin Callaghan Pottery is open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm. You'll find us in Donegal Town, where you're always welcome to come in, handle the work, and talk pots.
Can't make it in person? Everything in the shop is available online and we ship worldwide. Each piece is carefully packed and sent with care from Donegal.
