Irish flax farmers have been crafting linen fabric for two thousand years. Growing for a diversity of needs, from food to fibre, even protected flax producers from the devastation of the potato famine. Today, despite its rich history, it’s near-impossible to get your hands on Irish-grown flax.
On Mallon Farm in County Tyrone, Helen Keys and Charlie Mallon are reviving the tradition of growing flax for fibre. Grown as part of a rotation of potatoes, oats, and grasses, the ‘wee blue blossoms’ are chemical-free, harvested by hand, retted in rainwater, scutched on a restored turbine, and threaded into local supply chains.
“Whether we’re talking about textiles or vegetables, collaboration with other people is the thing that makes it work.”
Helen Keys, flax farmer
In conversation with Helen and Charlie, alongside Kerry Melville, Coordinator for Nourish NI, and Gawain Morrison, a leading voice on Belfast’s food resilience, we explored the potential to rebuild the Northern Irish flax industry in a fair and scalable way.
From discussing the role of fibre as part of a wider nature-friendly food and farming system, to sharing how others can diversify their farm without moving away from food production, the conversation was brimming with hope and potential.
“Learning from sustainable farmers is just incredible. They teach us how to work with nature, specifically on the land, and make a living. They are the two things you need to do if you’re farming!”
Kerry Melville, Nourish NI
“One thing I am really hopeful about is when I sit in meetings with big corporations they are all talking about what the consumer wants. And trust me, they are absolutely driven by what the consumer wants. So don’t think for one second you don’t have power as a consumer. You absolutely do…There is potential to change for the better.”
Helen Keys, flax farmer
Helen and Charlie’s outlook on farming has completely transformed; from feeling frayed, unravelled, and worn out by conventional agriculture, to excitedly counting down the minutes until the first flax plants can be harvested each year.
“During the summer when [the flax] is in flower, that field will be absolutely buzzing. The noise in the field is unreal with bees and butterflies and all those buzzy insects. And then flocks of linnets started turning up on the farm and we started realising “This is actually changing things on the farm.”” – Helen Keys, flax farmer
After years of feeling disheartened by government payment reductions for the so-called ‘unproductive’ areas of their farm, embracing the nature-friendly approach has led to Mallon Farm becoming more prosperous than ever.
“You are totally disincentivised from leaving anything to nature or for wildlife or managing your farm in any other kind of way.”
“Like a lot of farmers, over the years, we lost a bit of our connection with the land and our understanding of the land. You’re being told exactly what you can do and there is very little flexibility built into the system.”
“We had no idea when we first put the flax out into the world that it would be used for so many different things…It’s not just farming, it’s so much more than that when you start working with other people who can do so much more with it.” – Helen Keys, flax farmer
Rather than taking land away from food production, growing flax for fibre forms part of a sustainable food production system.
“Flax is a rotational crop so, therefore, you can’t plant it in the same field every year. It’s the same with potatoes. So, prior to putting flax in, one of the best things you can plant is potatoes.”
Charlie Mallon, flax farmer
“We basically have a monoculture across the whole of Northern Ireland. Only 2.6% of our agricultural land is farmed for vegetables, the rest is meat and dairy. [Mallon Farm] is such an important part of this dialogue [and their] willingness to use it as a test bed for all of these alternative ways of farming that bolster nature [rather than] deplete it.”
Kerry Melville, Nourish NI
Nourish NI, is the national partner of the UK-wide Sustainable Food Places programme. For the past 13 years, Kerry has been helping drive innovation and best practices to make healthy and sustainable food a defining characteristic of Northern Ireland.
“There is so much wrong with the food system that causes so many societal issues. These discussions on sustainability are so important because we can’t lose the lessons from the past. The movement has grown sufficiently in the last decade or so that it’s starting to be taken more seriously. What [Helen and Charlie] are doing is fundamental to the shift we are starting to see happen.”
Kerry Melville, Nourish NI
“We’re basically a rural city. You’re looking at the hills, you can see the farms and yet kids don’t know where their food comes from.”
Gawain Morrison, Brink!
With decades of experience inspiring change through the arts, Gawain’s current work as co-founder of Brink! uses food, music, and culture to bring citizens of Belfast together for a green and positive future.
“This movement is up and running and it’s not a niche far off distant land. It’s actually at the core of our society’s thinking, it’s just we don’t quite feel and believe we’ve got the agency to do it.”
Gawain Morrison, Brink!
Throughout the Regenerative Conversation, the overriding feeling was that, while there is a long way to go, big change is possible and imminent.
The audience, comprised of farmers, campaigners, and fashion professionals, was keen to feed from the panellists’ knowledge and learn how to support the shift to small-scale agroecological growing on the island of Ireland.
“I realised that transformative action happens becuase of personal passion. And from following Helen and Charlie for a year, I saw they are driven by that personal passion.”
Yvette Monahan, photographer
Over two thousand people attended the launch of Yvette Monahan‘s exhibition ‘The Clean Blue of Linen’, focusing on Helen and Charlie’s work on Mallon Farm.
Belfast Exposed are showing the exhibition until 22 March 2025. We Feed The UK’s Complete Collection of Photography and Poetry will also showcase Yvette’s work as part of the full exhibition at The Royal Photographic Society between 3 April and 22 June 2025.
