Schedule – Autumn 2026
Peannairí, the Association of Irish Calligraphers, has been offering classes in calligraphy and associated skills for over 30 years.
We sincerely hope you enjoy your experience with us! Just click the desired link below to be view the class details.
Layout and Composition
Introduction to Copperplate
Introduction to Italic Calligraphy
Layout and Composition
A 2-day Workshop
Tutor: Kevin Honan
Workshop dates: Saturday, October 31st, 2026 and Saturday, November 28th, 2026.
Time: From 10 am to 4pm
Venue: Holy Cross Church Parish Centre, Main Street, Dundrum, D14 K820, close to Dundrum Shopping Centre.
There is parking beside the Church Parish Centre and also in the nearby Shopping Centre. There are good transport links, as Dundrum is on the Green Luas line and is served by several bus routes.
Suitability: These workshops are suitable for improvers and more advanced students in calligraphy.
Brief outline of this workshop:
The aim and purpose of layout and composition is to give order to the text, a physical form to ideas, expression and feeling to the words that convey our experience.
The first thing we see when we look at a piece of calligraphy is how it sits on the page. Yet other considerations often dominate our thoughts – letterforms, colour, capitals.
This workshop will focus on how to lay out a piece of work, starting from first principles. We will analyse a large variety of formal arrangements: how to place a piece of text in a rectangle, a square, a circle; how to create a focus point; how to use tone and colour to capture and direct the eye around the piece; how to use contrasts of size, colour and shape to express the content of your words.
We will work through a range of exercises and how to use images with text. During the workshop we will complete a finished piece or two.
Below is a beautifully complex layout by Noeleen, using layered marks, horizontal and vertical stresses and a range of colour, tone and texture to celebrate the vowels, in the words of Jonathan Swift.
Cost:
Peannairí members: €100
Non-members: €135 (includes 18 months membership until March 31st, 2028)
Tools and materials:
- Pencils, ruler, geometry set (Compass, protractor, set square) if you have one.
- Your paints – a few colours are enough (Watercolours are best to write over).
- Colouring pencils are useful too.
- Brushes – the bigger ones are also useful for our exercises
- Some A3 paper that will take watercolour – Fabriano Academica is the paper we usually recommend. (If you have it, bring it, otherwise I will have plenty)
- Bring your calligraphy pens and nibs—including pointed nibs – your copperplate equipment will probably be useful.
- Paper towels / J cloths etc.
Payment: Please use the respective button below.
Introduction to Copperplate (class now full)
A series of 8 classes will be held on Tuesday evenings.
Tutor: Noeleen Frain
Class Dates:
- September 22nd, 2026
- September 29th, 2026
- October 6th, 2026
- October 27th, 2026
- November 3rd, 2026
- November 17th, 2026
- December 1st, 2026
- December 15th, 2026
Time: From 7pm to 8:30pm
Venue: Holy Cross Church Parish Centre, Main Street, Dundrum, D14 K820, close to Dundrum Shopping Centre.
There is parking beside the Church Parish Centre and also in the nearby Shopping Centre. There are good transport links, as Dundrum is on the Green Luas line and is served by several bus routes.
Cost:
Peannairí members: €100
Non-members: €135 (includes 18 months membership until March 31st, 2028)
Brief outline and materials
These classes are suitable for improvers and more advanced students in calligraphy, but you don’t need to have previous experience with copperplate.
Tools and materials:
- Copperplate Pen Holders & Nibs will be available to purchase on the first night of class.
- Parker Black Quink Ink – available in stationary shops
- A3 marker pad, a metal ruler and 2 HB PENCILS.
- Paper towels / J cloths etc.
Introduction to Italic Calligraphy (class now full)
A series of 8 classes will be held on Tuesday evenings.
Tutor: Jane Connolly
Class Dates:
- September 22nd, 2026
- September 29th, 2026
- October 6th, 2026
- October 20th, 2026
- October 27th, 2026
- November 3rd, 2026
- November 24th, 2026
- December 1st, 2026
Time: From 7pm to 8:30pm
Venue: Holy Cross Church Parish Centre, Main Street, Dundrum, D14 K820, close to Dundrum Shopping Centre.
There is parking beside the Church Parish Centre and also in the nearby Shopping Centre. There are good transport links, as Dundrum is on the Green Luas line and is served by several bus routes.
Cost:
Peannairí members: €100
Non-members: €135 (includes 18 months membership until March 31st, 2028)
Brief outline and materials:
This Introduction to Italic Calligraphy course is designed for beginners who have no previous experience of calligraphy and also for improvers who may have attended previous classes.
It will include letter proportions, achieving writing rhythm and using a pen with a broad nib which we use to achieve thick and thin lines.
Tools and materials
- Pilot Parallel Pen with a 3.8mm nib.
- A3 size Layout Pads or Marker Pads, however the paper must be bleed proof. Layout pads have semi-transparent paper which can be used with guidelines underneath.
- Pencil
- Ruler
Evans Art Supplies, Meetinghouse Lane, Dublin 7, is one shop that should have all these materials.