Joe Hogan has been making baskets at Loch na Fooey, Co. Galway since 1978. He was initially attracted to basketmaking because it offered the possibility of living rurally and being involved in the whole process from growing the willow through to making the finished object. Since then he has become internationally recognised as one of the most celebrated basketmakers working today.

An interest in the indigenous baskets of Ireland led him to write ‘Basketmaking in Ireland’ (Wordwell, 2001) now regarded as one of the most definitive accounts of the history of Irish basket making published. Recently he has devoted much of his time to making non-functional baskets. Some of these baskets involve the use of twigs of birch, bog myrtle and other wild found material. Many involve the use of finds of bogwood from a wonderful area of wild, isolated bog near where he lives. Several of his most recent works originate from wood fragments, which bear the marks of scars and openings from the lifetime of the tree providing profoundly beautiful starting point for the story that he weaves. Recent awards include first prize in the Basketmaking category, RDS National Crafts Competition, 2007 and 2008 and Award of Excellence, Reserve, 2008; Crafts Council of Ireland Bursary 2006 (joint prize winner); and first prize, Pinolere International Basketry Competition, Canary Islands, Spain, 2005.