+34Celebrating the depth of beauty of the Range Rover Sport, Lizzie Gore-Grimes met the couple behind the renowned Fermoyle Pottery, where craftsmanship
Sara KennedyCelebrating the depth of beauty of the Range Rover Sport, Lizzie Gore-Grimes met the couple behind the renowned Fermoyle Pottery, where craftsmanship and skill are bolstered by a strong design heritage and an eye for detail.
For husband-and-wife team Stephen O’Connell and Alexis Bowman, the story of Fermoyle Pottery began, fittingly, with art. Ballinskelligs native Stephen first fell in love with ceramics at the age of 16, when he began his first apprenticeship, before eventually stepping away from pottery to spend a decade working as a fine art printmaker.
It was while working at the renowned Cill Rialaig print studio in Kerry that he met Sydney-born Alexis, who had studied fine art and design in Australia before moving to Ireland. Together, the pair rediscovered a passion for pottery and a shared love of clay that led them back to Stephen’s original home to start their family and launch Fermoyle Pottery from an idyllic back-garden studio.
“When we built a home studio in 2015, we imagined it might become a creative space that could eventually sustain us,” says Alexis. As chefs began showing interest in their work, they realised pottery could genuinely support their family of five.
“We left our jobs and committed fully to pottery. Today Fermoyle Pottery sustains our family entirely. It’s a blessing to watch a way of life become the work that supports us. ” A visit from Jordan Bailey and Majken Bech-Bailey, the culinary duo behind the then two-Michelin-starred Aimsir at Cliff at Lyons in County Kildare, in 2018 led to Fermoyle Pottery’s first big break.
“They put in what felt like a humongous order at the time,” continues Alexis. “It was about eight months of work. It broke the mould for us. ” The Aimsir commission opened the floodgates to collaborations with some of Ireland’s most exciting contemporary restaurants, including OX in Belfast, Allta in Dublin and Aniar in Galway.
More recently, the couple have worked hand in hand with chef Cúán Greene to create a series of tableware for his groundbreaking restaurant Ómós in Abbeyleix. Their work has also travelled further afield, to Kol in London and restaurants in Singapore and Tuscany.
“What’s interesting about working with chefs is that they often come to us with a very strong idea of what they want,” says Alexis. “We’ll follow the brief, but we’ll also go beyond it and show them something they might not have considered. ” It’s often when something unexpected is put in front of them, she says, that the creative process really opens up. At the heart of Fermoyle is the tradition of making by hand.
“There’s a real desire, particularly among the chefs we work with, for something that has been carefully crafted and feels unique,” says Stephen. “You might be making a set of pieces, but each one has been touched and formed by hand. ” Living almost at the edge of the world, in wild and elemental Ballinskelligs, also plays its part.
“You become very aware of the elements and of nature,” says Stephen. “There’s something about going down to the beach with a storm coming in that clears everything away. It cleanses your mind and breaks it open for new ideas. ” That connection to the landscape finds its way into the work too, through stone dust, ash from the fire and clay found in the mountains, or even while digging in the garden.
A naturally rugged terrain perfectly suited to the Range Rover Sport, with its combination of luxury, performance and capability.
“This car is the ultimate paradox in the best way possible,” says Alexis. “It feels incredibly solid and dependable, yet every detail is luxurious and special. It perfectly bridges the gap between rugged, all-terrain agility and pure comfortable luxury. ” Both were particularly taken with Range Rover’s bespoke Varesine Blue metallic finish, which Stephen says “carries real depth and feels incredibly sophisticated”.
While inside the car, he appreciates the “sense of quiet refuge” that the car encapsulates, where “every material and tone is beautifully curated. ” For Stephen, however, it is the Range Rover design heritage that resonates most strongly with the Fermoyle ethos.
“Through the decades, Range Rover has evolved but always stayed true to that signature ethos of longevity, craftsmanship and heritage. ” It’s a philosophy that aligns naturally with ceramics.
“Ceramics can have an enormously long life. They don’t degrade unless we break or drop them. Museums are full of extraordinary pots made five or six thousand years ago, so longevity really does go hand in hand with ceramics. ” Ultimately, it is that dialogue between old and new that connects both worlds.
“There’s a through-line between heritage and contemporary design that I find really interesting,” says Stephen. “You can be informed by what came before while still creating something completely new. ”are shining a light on the people shaping tomorrow’s Ireland. Across food, design, and culture, this series celebrates a new generation of visionaries whose creativity, ambition and determination are helping redefine what progress looks like.
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