A group of craftswomen in Carna have toiled for over 100 hours to create two giant crochet Christmas trees for their small Connemara community to enjoy.

The stunning eight-foot-tall trees have been placed in the Cogaslann Agatha or village chemist and the Glynsk House Restaurant located just outside Carna.

Seven women from the group of twelve worked tirelessly from September to get the hundreds of squares crocheted and knitted before they were sewn together and place on a base in time for December 1.

It’s the largest project undertaken by the group and the first created for their local community, reveals Suzanne O’Donnell.

She started the Carna Quilters 15 years ago as a way to keep crafting alive and create an opportunity to meet up in one of the most isolated parts of County Galway.

“I came up with the idea before we broke up for the summer and my daughter Maeve gave us a workshop to learn how to crochet,” she explains.

“Everyone was given a bit of homework to create a couple of squares and we quickly realized when we came back in September that we needed an awful lot more squares.

“We were really working flat out to get it done by December – over 100 hours to cover each tree. Some people crochet at a slower pace, knitting is a slower technique so the knitters wouldn’t have done as many.

“I was just rolling them out towards the end – I must have done at least 50 myself. I don’t’ think we ever counted them.”

Caption: Gathered around their crochet tree are (from left) Mary Cloherty, Brid Barrett, Sally Uí Chualáin, Damhnait Breathnach, Suzanne O’Donnell, Collette Mc Donagh and Maryann Corbett.

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