Meet the couple making some of Ireland’s most sought-after pottery in their Kerry backyard studio
Texture, connection, aesthetics and story are the building blocks that make up Fermoyle Pottery. Run by husband and wife team Stephen O’Connell and Alexis Bowman, they specialise in making ceramic tableware for fine dining restaurants.
It is a rare and fortuitous thing to be able to make a living from your heart’s passion. Even rarer still is the ability to do so alongside your partner, just steps from your own back door. Such is the utopian existence of Stephen O’Connell and Alexis Bowman of Fermoyle Pottery.
Founded in 2018 after the pair met and began toying with the inkling of turning their back shed into a ceramics studio, the foundations for Fermoyle were laid far prior for Stephen who, at just 16 years old, took on a summer job that showed him the ropes and ignited a passion. Having grown up surrounded by artists, he found his flair early, and opted to study art in college before leaving to pursue an apprenticeship with focus on how to create his own business, right back in the same studio he stood in as just a boy.
“At the time, it felt like you had two options: sell to tourists, or go the high-end route,” Stephen says. So, after five years of not seeing any clear and desirable path to make a living, Stephen left ceramics to work as a fine art print maker for ten years. Then, he met Alexis.
Having studied fine art in Sydney before coming to Ireland and meeting Stephen at the Cill Rialaig print studio, Alexis had dabbled in pottery here and there, but her interest was piqued and Stephen became her teacher. Seemingly overnight, Fermoyle was founded.
“As soon as I got back into it, I remembered how much I loved it,” Stephen says. “As we started working together, Alexis began documenting the journey on Instagram. We had the vague idea of making things for fine dining, with no real idea of how it would work, but the response came so quickly.”
“The first inquiry came from someone who was very serious about creating a very serious restaurant, Aimsir,” Stephen said, with Alexis continuing: “We invited Jordan [Bailey] and Majken [Bech-Bailey] to the studio and they were this energetic young couple who were just really passionate about what they do. They put in what felt like a humongous order at the time; it was about eight months of work. It broke the mould for us.”
And so a chain of reactions began. Aniar in Galway, Ichigo Ichie and Terre in Cork, Ox in Belfast, and most recently Allta in Dublin, all put in orders. But how does plating enhance the dining experience?
“There are two things: the aesthetic, and the story,” Stephen explains. “When you go to any of these places, you’re going to hear the story about where everything comes from, the crafting of it, and so that then becomes a part of the story at the table as well.”
“It’s all about creating a richer experience for the diner,” Alexis chimes in. “Even if they’re not told that the plate has been made by an Irish craftsperson, when they look at it, they know instantly that it’s handmade and a person is stitched into that story. The rest becomes more meaningful.”
Over the years, the demand for Fermoyle Pottery by members of the general public has massively increased. Making pieces available through their website five or six times a year, they’ve been selling out almost instantly, and with the wheels in motion for team and studio expansion, collaborations, and further partnerships, it’s an extremely exciting time for Fermoyle.
Their studio is nestled in Ballinskelligs, Co Kerry, and that connection to place is evident across all aspects of the business. From the name itself to the materials used in creation, the surrounding landscape is an endless source of inspiration for this couple. Having a variation of tactile sensations is a hugely important aspect of Fermoyle designs, the layer of texture and intrigue inviting you to reach out and touch the surface, echoing the place it was made.
“We collect the ashes from turf fires and use that to achieve a beautiful gold effect on plates, we collect wood ashes from local pizza ovens, and slate sludge from Valentia Island Slate Quarry to achieve a gorgeous black oil slick finish,” Alexis says. “We use local clay that we dig ourselves to create surface treatments and colours in the glazes.”
Though they admit that working so close to home and being their own bosses can be challenging, what with work and life becoming so easily blended, it’s clear that they wouldn’t change it for the world.
Photography: Al Higgins
