An Interview with Sara O'Neill: Part 2. Megan Fox interviews Sara for Irish Country Magazine.
- saraoneillstylist
- Nov 24, 2025
- 8 min read
Irish history and story telling is at the heart of what you do. What is it that draws you to this?
It’s such a cliche but I was brought up on Irish myth and legend, stories & songs. When we’d stay in Dublin with my grandparents, my granny would scare the crap out of me with stories of the banshee and she could still do it in my 30s.
She came from Glencree in the Wicklow mountains & talk of fairy trees, changelings, banshees seemed just an accepted part of life. She’d tell me about the Children of Lir & Tir na nÓg.
My mum is a huge fan of Jim Fitzpatrick and there were pictures of his work on the walls at home which added imagery to the stories in my head. Jim has always been a great inspiration & is now also a good pal.
Over the years the stories tucked themselves away, until 2014 when I moved back to the north coast. There’s something so timeless about the Antrim coast & the stories came flooding back.
At that time there wasn’t much talk about old Irish stories & I worried we might lose them. For my own part, I didn’t want kids so I wouldn’t have grandkids to tell these stories to & I knew I could never tell them as well as my granny did.
So I thought the best thing I could do is draw them and use fashion as a vehicle for storytelling. It didn’t quite occur to me at the time just how important those stories were, that they had survived for centuries, through colonisation when so much else was taken. I explore myth, legend, folklore & social history, specially women’s history which has been so overlooked. For me there’s so much in there that’s still so relevant and important today.
One aspect of this is that I’m from & live in the north & here identity can still be a contested issue. We have some politicians saying dismissive things about identity, we have people currently protesting plans to bring bilingual signage (Irish & English) to the new train station in Belfast. It is frustrating but all of that, good & bad, inspires me & pushes me to look at and explore different aspects of our history and culture. Stories are a way of telling people about ourselves, a way of communicating across the world & through the centuries. Or just across societies & communities. I love to hear people’s stories and memories and much of that has fed into my work. It feels like a really exciting time here, there’s an energy and I love being part of that.
What types of fabrics do you like to work with?
Natural fibres.. silk, Irish linen, cotton, second hand leather.
What is your design process like?
Long!! It’ll start with a story of course. That could be a known story or a desire to celebrate a certain place or time or person, in which case I’ll write my own story. I’ll mull that over for months, maybe years. The stories kinda order themselves in my brain, whichever shouts the loudest gets drawn. There will be site visits if there is a particular place attached to the story. For vibes as well as colours/ motifs. Lots of photos taken. Many visits to the Linenhall Library in Belfast for research.
They have this wrecked chaise that I could sit on for hours, reading and making notes. I’ll pull out some imagery ideas from the stories & research and start to draw them, pencil & paper.
When that’s done I’ll move it to my iPad to add sharper detail and colour. Then to my Mac where I arrange imagery according to garment. Then it’s sent to print to sample colours. Adjusted if necessary. Printed and made into garments. The entire process could take anywhere from four months to a year usually. I don’t do seasonal collections as I think that encourages overproduction & consumption and I don’t want my customers to believe the next thing I do is better than the piece they bought. I want them to treasure every piece.
Pieces are limited edition and they will come and go and then come back again until the series runs out. I juggle prints & stock depending on mood, collections, or how many people email asking when a certain print they’ve been hankering after will be back.
Your work has been worn by the likes of The Edge while performing in Vegas bringing Éadach to a global stage. Tell us a little about this experience and perhaps an insight into the other exciting moments where your brand has been worn?
I got an email one day asking if I had time to create something for U2. I was due to be in Dublin that week so arranged to meet with their stylist Sharon to see what that would entail. We got on so well, she was a very cool woman and I really wanted to work with her. I think she’d seen my work in Brown Thomas & bought one of the scarves for the mood board for the upcoming shows. In that collection I also had a couple of my hand painted vintage leather jackets & that was the kind of thing she wanted for Edge for the shows.
We stayed in contact over the next couple of weeks, bouncing ideas. It ended up being an around the clock thing because I tend to work late and she was travelling a lot and in different time zones. We came up with artwork that was inspired by his Welsh heritage, Temple Bar in the 90s, Las Vegas & the Achtung Baby album. By this stage we were tight for time so to cut out the need for fittings I asked if I could paint one of his jackets, which was delivered to me as I grabbed dinner outside a restaurant in Dublin one evening.
The pressure with that of course is that there’s this one jacket, so I couldn’t afford any mistakes. I worked solidly on it for a couple of weeks and even had time to get silk printed up and the jacket relined.
Then dropped it to Sharon who was back in Dublin. Next thing I knew he’d worn it in the music video for Atomic City and in a lot of the press for the show.
Another jacket was needed. Something different. Even tighter for time but I LOVE a challenge. For this one we looked to Las Vegas itself, the city scape and sky line. With ‘Atomic City’ I kinda looked back to Blondie’s ‘Atomic’ and what 70s punk was to NYC, and wanted to bring that vibe to Las Vegas imagery. So lots of neon, splashes, graffiti style. That was a working around the clock for a few days job and then it was picked up and off to Vegas.
My pieces have been worn on the red carpet & winners stages at the Oscars, BAFTAs, IFTAs, Emmys. It is such a joy when amazing Irish talent from film & telly choose to share their moment and platform Irish fashion, especially a small brand like mine.
People like Siobhan McSweeney, Dearbhla Walsh, Seamus O’Hara, Ross White have all worn Éadach to these events and have really championed it.
Imelda May has just finished a tour wearing Éadach, that’s a lovely pairing. It's so important different creative sectors work together to build a really strong, inclusive industry. And then I love just walking down the street or scrolling on social media and clocking someone wearing my scribbles. That’ll never get old. And yes I do approach people if I see them on the street wearing Éadach, momentarily awkward if they don’t know who I am.
Where can we shop your pieces?
On my website of course.
Brown Thomas, Grafton Street, 1st floor & online.
The Designerie, Bushmills.
Flying Solo, NYC & Paris
You are a member of the Council of Irish Fashion Designers. What does this entail?
I am, it’s a wonderful organisation to be part of. I met the chair of CIFD, Eddie Shanahan, at an event in Derry back in 2015 & was blown away by this man’s knowledge of fashion, the industry and his obvious enthusiasm and commitment to Irish fashion.
I joined CIFD in 2016. It’s a real community, everyone is very supportive & encouraging. Fashion can be a tricky business so it’s great to have others around you who understand the challenges & are happy to share their expertise and experiences.
Through CIFD & DFA I was invited to China last year to show at Hainan Fashion week, where Ireland was the country of honour. Earlier this year a group of us were invited to the embassy in Paris to show our collections to fashion industry insiders there. Both amazing trips that have made a hugely positive impact on me & my business.
What are the goals for the future ?
Keep telling stories. Slow, sustainable growth. Continue building community, contribute where I can. Be open to whatever opportunities come my way.
Proud moments..
Bringing my granny into Brown Thomas to see our collection in store for the first time in 2016. Her stories, my designs. She used to bring me over to Grafton St to see the windows of Switzers & Brown Thomas in the 80s & 90s at Christmas so that felt like a full-circle moment.
Since 2022 I’ve raised over £60,000 for Women’s Aid Federation NI through my work. Because so much of my work is inspired by women, it makes sense to give back to women. Working with the WAFNI team & the community that’s grown to supports our efforts is such a privilege.
‘The Dreamer’ collection (inspired by the female mill workers of Ulster) was bought by the Ulster Museum in 2021 to be part of their permanent collection. It was such a thrill to see it exhibited in its glass case. Having work in a museum feels like something that should happen when you’re dead so I’m glad I got to experience that in life.
This is a fascinating interview that really gives insight into Sara O’Neill’s journey and experiences. The conversation flows naturally, and Megan Fox does a great job of highlighting both professional and personal perspectives.
For more in-depth interviews and stories about people making an impact in Ireland, the irish insider is a great resource to explore.