To honour the legacy of the Yeats sisters, and in particular Lily Yeats, St. Angela’s College is running a national embroidery competition for junior and senior cycle Home Economics students. Students must construct an original hand embroidered piece inspired by a W.B. Yeats poem of their choice. 
William Butler Yeats the famous poet and Jack Yeats the artist his brother are synonymous with Sligo and for the last few years Sligo has been marking W.B.’s birthday, the 13th of June with a celebration of all it’s associations with W. B.’s poetry and indeed the Yeats family. W.B.’s sisters Lily and Lolly, while lesser known than their infamous brothers, are none the less significant in Irish history for their contribution to the Arts and Crafts movement here. Susan or Lily was a talented embroiderer who trained with and worked for William Morris. She and her her sister Elizabeth (Lolly) returned to Ireland in the beginning of the 2th Century and helped set up Dun Emer Industries a women only enterprise consisting of a printing press and embroidery businesses. They provided financial support for the male members of their family through their enterprise. The printing press was run by Lolly while Lily concentrated on the embroidery. Their work advanced the cause of many contemporary Irish causes not least of which was the Arts and Crafts movement and the Celtic Revival. Lily Yeats beautiful embroidered pieces including church such pieces as The Stone Wall, Apple Trees and Cornfield with Poppies, which can be seen today in the National Gallery. (http://irishartsreview.com/irisartsreviyear/pdf/1998/20492999.pdf.bannered.pdf)
William Butler Yeats the famous poet and Jack Yeats the artist his brother are synonymous with Sligo and for the last few years Sligo has been marking W.B.’s birthday, the 13th of June with a celebration of all its associations with W. B.’s poetry and indeed the Yeats family. W.B.’s sisters Lily and Lolly, while lesser known than their infamous brothers, are none the less significant in Irish history for their contribution to the Arts and Crafts movement here. Susan or Lily was a talented embroiderer who trained with and worked for William Morris. She and her sister Elizabeth (Lolly) returned to Ireland in the beginning of the 2th Century and helped set up Dun Emer Industries a women only enterprise consisting of a printing press and embroidery businesses. They provided financial support for the male members of their family through their enterprise. The printing press was run by Lolly while Lily concentrated on the embroidery. Their work advanced the cause of many contemporary Irish causes not least of which was the Arts and Crafts movement and the Celtic Revival. Lily Yeats beautiful embroidered pieces including church such pieces as The Stone Wall, Apple Trees and Cornfield with Poppies, which can be seen today in the National Gallery. (http://irishartsreview.com/irisartsreviyear/pdf/1998/20492999.pdf.bannered.pdf)

Students who wish to enter the competition should send a photograph of the embroidered piece with the title of the work and a printed copy of the Yeats poem it was inspired by along with their name, their teacher’s name and school address to Sligo Education Centre, Ballinode, Sligo, by the Friday 9th May 2014. Finalists will be contacted and asked to send their pieces to the Education Centre by the 16th of May. 
Prizes include cash prizes, a Martina Hamilton designed Jewellery piece and vouchers from the Craft and Sewing Basket, Sligo. The competition finalists will be displayed in an exhibition in Sligo as part of the LilyLolly Craftfest.
The LilyLolly Craftfest includes other events as a Textile exhibition by the Crafts Council of Ireland, talks on The Yeats Sisters and Cuala Industries’ by Billy Shortall, Made in Sligo exhibitions and masterclasses and will also coincide with the SO Sligo Food Festival. It’s promises to be a very exciting few days in Sligo and we would welcome you all to partake in the events. Please visit Facebook Craftfest Northwest to see images of the festival last year.
We would ask all Home Economics teachers to please encourage their students to enter the competition with original embroidery inspired by a WB Yeats poem or work which fits the brief from Junior Certificate Design and Craftwork projects. All queries to uoshea@stangelas.nuigalway.ie