Druid 50 in 2025
A Shared History and Celebration

We'd like to share with you a homage to Druid Theatre Company in their 50th Anniversary year, marking an exceptional contribution to Irish culture. With Inis Meáin Knitting Company looking forward to celebrating 50 years in 2026, these two County Galway companies have a shared personal and professional history.

In 1975 three young friends Garry Hynes, Marie Mullen and Mick Lally formed the Druid Theatre Company in Galway City. With immense skill, talent, determination and hard work they developed Druid into an ensemble of world-class quality and international renown, and with it redefined Irish Theatre. Garry as Director was the first female recipient of a prestigious Tony Award for Directing in 1998, just one of many firsts and highlights for Druid at home and abroad over the last five decades.

Innovators in every respect since founding Ireland's first theatre company outside of Dublin, as well as extensive international touring, Druid brought their productions several times to the far more logistically challenging location of Inis Meáin. The late Mick Lally was married to Peige, an Inis Meáin native and sister of our co-founder Áine de Blacam, and fellow co-founder Tarlach de Blacam served on the board of Druid for many years sharing his experience of bringing a high quality Irish product to a discerning international audience.  

Druid's first Inis Meáin odyssey came in October 1982 with Synge's The Playboy of the Western World- these special images capture the Druid cast approaching Inis Meáin by boat and Mick Lally coming ashore with a prop for the play. There followed inimitable productions staged in unique Inis Meáin settings including Dún Chonchuir and Ceann Gainimh as Druid brought further iconic works of Irish theatre to the island -DruidSynge, the first ever staging of John Millington Synge's entire theatrical canon; the first showing of Martin McDonagh's The Cripple of Inishmaan in Inis Meáin; and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. 

Druid has remained deeply connected to its home in Galway and in July this year performed another first in the Mick Lally Theatre with its celebratory double bill of Synge's Riders to the Sea and Shakespeare's Macbeth. An inspired tour-de-force of two uniquely powerful plays portrayed by masters at work throughout the accomplished crew.

★★★★★
'Rea’s electrifying Macbeth ... Mullen’s compelling Lady Macbeth ... the pace is unflagging, the menace unrelenting’
The Guardian

There's still a chance to catch a little Druid magic in Dublin and New York before the end of this year. Some tickets currently remain for the only other planned showing of Druid's Macbeth as part of Dublin's Theatre Festival from the 25th of September until the 4th of October.

And following this is a month's residence in New York to stage the critically acclaimed Endgame by Samuel Beckett at The Irish Arts Centre in Manhattan from the 22nd of October to the 23rd of November.

Some of the Druid ensemble have helped model our knitwear over the years - the innate character of these talented actors complimenting the depth of care that goes into making each Inis Meáin piece. To celebrate Druid and our shared history, we have reknit and are launching today the Undyed Alpaca Moss Rib Sweater in Black, modelled here a few years ago by lead Macbeth actor and long-time Druid ensemble member, Marty Rea.

A donation of €50 for each one of these pieces sold in 2025 will be given to Druid to celebrate their 50 years of wonderful achievement and to help support their future.

Thank you to Druid for the use of the imagery from the 50th anniversary souvenir programme and their website, Druid.ie, where you can sign up to their newsletter to hear about upcoming productions and support their work.

The Undyed Alpaca Moss Rib in Black, now also known as the Druid Sweater, is a beautifully soft piece with a sleek drape. Knitted from undyed boiled Alpaca yarn, the moss rib pattern, emulating the potato ridges on Inis Meáin, offers remarkable stitch definition. This texture combined with a subtle chevron motif on the mock neck and cuffs creates a distinctive sweater. 

This is the first piece of the second instalment of our Autumn / Winter 2025 Collection due to arrive in the next few days. The second instalment will feature many new Men's styles as well as the first new Womens and Accessories pieces for Autumn / Winter 2025. All designed, made and hand-finished in our Aran Islands workshop.