The Return of Irish Flax: Craft, Community and Climate
In the green heart of County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, flax is growing once again. On the slopes of Mallon Farm, home to Mallon Linen, hands pull the tall stems gently from the earth - just as they did generations ago - reviving a linen tradition rooted in heritage, regeneration, resilience, and hope.
Evening views from the retting tank - Mallon Farm, Co. Tyrone. Photo Credit: Yvette Monahan
Mallon Linen, the work of Helen Keys, Charlie Mallon, and Clare Keys, marks a return to Irish-grown fibre and a grassroots revolution in what textile sustainability looks like today. Grown without fertilisers, pesticides, or herbicides, their flax thrives solely on sunshine and rain. A hundred days from seed to flower, this resilient plant restores rather than depletes: improving soil structure, encouraging biodiversity, and strengthening the local ecology.
Helen Keys sowing the flax seeds with a fiddle - Mallon Farm, Co.Tyrone. Photo Credit: Yvette Monahan
Retted flax drying in the farm fields - Mallon Farm, Co. Tyrone. Photo Credit: Yvette Monahan
The farm's commitment to regenerative farming is at the heart of The Clean Blue of Linen, a moving photography project by artist Yvette Monahan, commissioned by the We Feed the UK campaign. Exhibited earlier this year at Belfast Exposed, Monahan’s images chronicle the fibre’s journey from soil to thread, and a community’s reconnection to place and purpose. Helen and Charlie’s story joins a nationwide celebration of food and fibre producers who are rewriting the narrative on climate resilience and local economies...
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Image Credits:
Lead Image: Yvette Monahan - Helen Keys and Charlie Mallon working late in the scutching shed-Mallon Farm, Co. Tyrone
All images: Yvette Monahan