In January 2024, I received an email from Mark with a characteristically humble subject line: Hello (not urgent). He suggested a coffee to discuss how he might mark 15 years of The Garden. The brief was intentionally open - something simple, not showy, and not necessarily involving flowers. Because with Mark, it’s never really about him; it’s about collaboration, hard work and trust.

From the outset, we knew we wanted to work with director Dave O’Carroll on a film - an idea Mark had been quietly sitting with for some time. We agreed it should centre on Connemara (Mark’s birthplace) and Dublin (home to The Garden), with Dave leading creatively. Instead of a single film, he created over 20. Down to the Bog is a series of short films following Mark and his mother, Mary, as they work and walk through her garden and the local bog. Their conversations range from shared values around work, to what constitutes a weed, happiness, and the evolution of The Garden since its founding in 2010. Watch the full series here. 

Next, we continued The Garden’s long-standing collaboration with photographer - and close friend of Mark’s - Doreen Kilfeather. Working alongside Dave, she documented both birthplace and business place. In tribute to Mary, one of Doreen’s images - depicting her bejewelled hands holding a piece of bog cotton - was printed on a t-shirt and sold in-store. The image became a quiet symbol of motherhood, craft and the West of Ireland.

Throughout his career, Mark has collaborated with creatives across disciplines. Past projects include limited editions with artist Brian Teeling, workshops with printmakers Superfolk, and exhibitions pairing Philip White’s photography with embroidery by Domino Whisker. An exhibition felt like a natural way to honour both existing and new creative relationships, while returning to a source of enduring inspiration in Mark’s work as a floral artist and landscape designer: the bog.

Mark grew up walking the bogs of West Galway. Weekends were spent stacking and bagging turf under the watchful eyes of his parents, Mary and Hugh. The marshy hedgerows of Connemara have long informed his floral language.

Titled Bog, the exhibition - held at The Garden’s Powerscourt Townhouse shop - brought together invited artists and craftspeople to explore the bog as both material and metaphor. The work echoed the bog’s quiet power, rooted in time, place and the enduring presence of craft. Participating artists included Amo Kilfeather, Brian Teeling, Cliodhna Prendergast, Dave O’Carroll, Domino Whisker, Doreen Kilfeather, Endless Rhythm, Fermoyle Pottery, Finn Richards, J Hill’s Standard, Julie Connellan, Linda Brownlee, Maggie O’Dwyer, Mourne Textiles, Noel Byas, Philip White, Simon Walsh, Superfolk and The Tweed Project. Spanning textiles, ceramics, printmaking, photography, glass, jewellery design and painting, some featured artworks were created with the exhibition in mind while others were selected from the artists' collections. Artworks were exhibited alongside installations by Mark which featured grasses from his local field, cut turf and bog cotton. 

Graphic designer Keith Nally developed the project’s visual identity. Grounded in a turf-brown palette, the logotype featured an angled serif on the ‘g’ in BOG, referencing the cut of turf from the bog. This theme extended to a bespoke tote bag designed by pattern cutter Leanne Keogh and crafted by We Make Good from traditional turf-sacking material.

The final piece was the exhibition launch itself. Working with food artist Jeni Glasgow, a bog-inspired menu was created. Playfully titled Bog Standard, it reimagined quintessential Irish ingredients - from blood bonbons to griddle bread, butter and ‘bog-standard’ eggs - in a way that was both artful and playful. Guests enjoyed Irish cheeses, beer from Fierce Mild, and Cockage3 Irish Cider and were treated to a screening of Dave O’Carroll’s Down to the bog film series - an experience which filled the original drawing room of Powerscourt Townhouse with great warmth and laughter. 

Thank you to everyone who made this celebration such a special one. 

Curation: Ciana March

Design: Keith Nally

Film: Dave O’Carroll

Photographer: Doreen Kilfeather 

Printing: Hugh Grehan, Atlantic Print & Design, Galway

Press: Rebecca McNamee

Commissioned by: Mark Grehan, The Garden