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The Good Hatchery is an ongoing art led initiative outside Daingean, Co. Offaly, Ireland.

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It has been said that under two percent of fine art graduates proceed to make an art related career for themselves in Ireland. Even less become practicing artists. Although the reasons for this statistic may be quite complicated, we believe that many of its central causes are financial in origin. It becomes virtually impossible to keep up a contemporary art practice immediately after college in Dublin without either compromising ones ideals or ones health. What seems to have become overlooked to some degree, is that the bulk of these financial pressures exist mainly in Dublin.

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We believe that it has become a myth that an emerging artist needs to stay in Dublin to become an established artist. The majority of the connection that our group maintains with the art world seems to be conducted via the internet. Wireless internet has, only in the last year, become widespread and affordable enough to keep this connection intact in rural areas. It is in these rural areas that artists can find large buildings free of rent and enjoy a cheaper cost of living. We tend to visit Dublin to catch up with friends and visit exhibitions while collecting some of the many surplus materials to be found in the capital. We intend The Good Hatchery to be an experiment in solving some of the problems associated with emerging as a young contemporary artist while simultaneously attempting to spread provocative art tactics and their outcomes out of the capital where it seems to maintain a stronghold. We believe that a rural context can offer diverse and unique areas of concern that, due to the geographical make up of Ireland, effect the majority of people living on the Island. This context can easily be overlooked by contemporary art practice. We would hope to highlight some of the rich opportunities that are actually available to the emerging artist in rural Ireland.

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The Building that now homes The Good Hatchery was found on the internet in 2006. Using Freecycle, an internet-based recycling website, Carl Giffney made contact with Eileen Hanlon. She replied to an advert that read ‘Wanted: derelict house or ruin for artists to live in and renovate’. Eileen generously offered a nineteenth century hayloft for this purpose that, the year before, had received a new roof, floor and windows. The building was weather proof and split into two floors but was in need of further development. Due to the lack of funds that were available to its refurbishment, The Good Hatchery was born.
In July of 2007 five NCAD graduates began to renovate the hayloft. Carl Giffney, Ruth Lyons, Elaine Reynolds, Rory Grubb and Chris Timms worked to change the building into some sort of base where creative processes could flourish. By November the space was habitable and could accommodate art and music making. At present, Carl and Ruth work in, and administrate, The Good Hatchery full time, while other art practitioners occupy the building and its studios part time. This fluctuating situation creates available space where dynamic residency programs can operate. All the materials, furniture and appliances, including the building itself, have been sourced for free via recycling, salvaging and reusing initiatives like Freecycle, Jumbletown and the BuyandSell freebies section.