Ealaín Solas: Build & Explore Polarised Light

Cancelled due to Jeffrey getting his arm in a cast. It will be back soon again.

Ever wondered what hidden colours and patterns are waiting inside ordinary transparent materials?

Join us at TOG Hackerspace on Sunday 12 July for Ealaín Solas: Build & Explore Polarised Light, a hands-on workshop where art, science and making come together.

Using simple materials, you will make your own polarised-light viewer and use it to explore tape, plastics, screens and other everyday objects in a completely new way. With the right combination of light and polarising film, these familiar materials can reveal bright colours, stress patterns and unexpected geometric designs.

During the workshop, you will:

  • Make a polarised-light viewer to take home
  • Explore colourful effects in transparent materials
  • Experiment with tape, plastics and other everyday objects
  • Learn a little about how polarised light works
  • Create your own light-based patterns and images

No previous experience is needed, and all tools and materials are provided. It is a relaxed, beginner-friendly workshop for anyone interested in light, colour, science, art or making.

Date: Sunday 12 July 2026
Time: 3:30 pm–6:00 pm
Cost: €20
Location: TOG Hackerspace, Unit 1B Motor City, Kylemore Road, Dublin 12

Places are limited, so booking is essential.

https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/ealain-solas-build-explore-polarised-light-tickets-1992782032704?aff=oddtdtcreator

Stay for Craft Night

It is also Sunday Craft Night at TOG. The workshop will finish in plenty of time before Craft Night starts at 6:30 pm, so bring along a project or stay on afterwards for all sorts of crafting fun.

Repair Club: Buttons & Patches Edition

Our new Repair Club series is back, and this time we are turning our attention to clothes.

After taking a look at lamp repair in our first session, the next Repair Club will focus on buttons, patches, and simple textile repairs. It is a practical evening for anyone who would like to make their clothes last a little longer, learn a useful skill, or finally tackle that missing button that has been sitting in a drawer for months.

Repair Club is a little different from a Repair Café. Rather than bringing along a whole range of broken things to be fixed, we take a deeper dive into one type of repair and learn about it together.

For this session, we will be getting hands-on with simple repairs for woven fabrics. We will practise sewing buttons back on by hand, adding patches by hand, and looking at when a machine-sewn patch might make more sense. We will also talk about visible versus invisible mending, and how a small repair can help keep a favourite item in use for years to come.

The focus will be on items such as shirts, trousers, jackets, cushions, toys, bags, and similar things. Stretchy fabrics such as socks and T-shirts are a different challenge, so they will have to wait for another day.

Please bring along one or two clean items that need a button replaced or a small hole patched. This will be a friendly, beginner-focused session, so no sewing experience is needed. If you are not sure whether your item is suitable, get in touch with us before the event.

The session will be led by TOG member Tríona.

Event Details

Date: Wednesday, 22 July 2026
Time: 7:30 pm–9:00 pm
Location: TOG Hackerspace
Cost: €7.50, with ticket income going as a donation to TOG

Book your place on Eventbrite

Come along, learn a few useful skills, and give a favourite item a better chance of staying out of the bin.

Touchdesigner Dublin Meetup – June Event

image created in touchdesigner software depicting a statue of Oscar Wilde in Dublin's Merrion Square
Touchdesigner Dublin Meetup -June event

We are hosting an open TouchDesigner meetup with demos, hands-on learning, and space to share work with others using the software.

The meetup is part of a series of monthly events in collaboration with @noid_lab typically on the last Wednesday each month in the space, so this month it’s 1st July 7-10pm.

This will be our last meetup for the summer! We are taking a small break for the holiday season, and hope to resume in the Autumn.

Workshop

This month’s event will focus on MIDI integration in TouchDesigner, exploring how MIDI data can be used to control visuals, trigger events, manipulate parameters, and connect external hardware to interactive and audiovisual systems. Through demonstrations, we’ll look at practical workflows for working with MIDI devices.

Format

The session will run for around three hours in a relaxed, hands-on setting.

The event will focus on learning, with a combination of scheduled short and long presentations/demonstrations. The last hour will take a more flattened and open approach, allowing the space for people to chat, share, learn, and explore TouchDesigner.

Expect an informal, community-driven environment where the format adapts to participants. So if you would like to bring your laptop and learn the basics, share your projects, or connect with other using the software, this meetup offers a welcoming and supportive space to do so.

The event is also a great opportunity to meet other creative technologists and artists, and to continue building the growing the digital art community in Ireland.

Contact us at noidlab.collective@gmail.com to share ideas for future sessions or to express interest in presenting your work.

@noid_lab offer thanks to @toghackerspace for use of the space for these events, and Derivative for supporting the project. The meetups are hosted each month by a group of artists and creative technologists.

https://www.tog.ie

Pride Over the Waves: Amateur Radio Night

Tog Hackerspace is teaming up with Queer Shed Dublin Central for a special evening of amateur radio, Morse code, hands-on demos, and community connection.

Pride Over the Waves: Amateur Radio Night will take place in Tog Hackerspace on Monday, 22 June 2026, from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

The event is free, but places are limited, so please book a ticket on Eventbrite:
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/pride-over-the-waves-amateur-radio-night-tickets-1991936225873

Queer Shed Dublin Central is a grassroots queer skill-sharing community connecting through DIY, repair, and regeneration. We are delighted to welcome them to Tog for this joint event.

The night is linked to Pride Over the Waves, a grassroots amateur radio initiative created by LGBTQI+ amateur radio operators and allies to help make LGBTQI+, queer, and diverse radio amateurs more visible in the wider amateur radio community.

For the evening, we will be activating the special event callsign EI0LGBT.

What will happen on the night?

From 7:00 pm to 8:00 pm, we will have an informal introduction to amateur radio, with live demos and hands-on activities. There will be a chance to see radio equipment in action, learn what callsigns are, hear how radio contacts are made, and try out some Morse code.

The Morse code part will be very beginner-friendly. You do not need to know anything before coming along. It is just a chance to have a go, send a few letters, and discover why this old form of communication is still loved by radio amateurs today.

From 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm, we will call into the South Dublin Radio Club net using the EI0LGBT callsign. A radio net is a regular on-air gathering where radio operators check in, say hello, and share updates.

There may be a chance for visitors to say hello over the radio with support from licensed operators, subject to the usual radio rules on the night.

Who is it for?

This event is open to everyone.

You do not need a radio licence to attend. You do not need to be technical. You do not need to know Morse code. You just need to be curious.

Whether you are part of Queer Shed Dublin Central, a Tog member, a radio amateur, a maker, a friend, an ally, or someone who has never touched a radio before, you are very welcome.

Event details

Date: Monday, 22 June 2026
Time: 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Venue: Tog Hackerspace
Tickets: Free via Eventbrite
Special event callsign: EI0LGBT

Book your free ticket here:
https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/pride-over-the-waves-amateur-radio-night-tickets-1991936225873

You can find Queer Shed Dublin Central on Instagram at:
https://www.instagram.com/queersheddublincentral/

Come along, tune in, and help us put EI0LGBT on the air.

Monthly Makerfur Meet

Tog hackerspace is kicking off with a new monthly event that welcomes all furries into the space.

The event will kick off on the 4th of July and run on the first Saturday of every month from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM.

Are you a beginner fursuit maker who wants to learn the craft? Are you into electronics and want to figure out how to make your LED strips emit custom patterns? Or maybe you want to talk on the radio with your fluffy friends? No matter how big or small, fluffy or simple the project is, bring it in to us for a social, fluffy event for all cats, dogs, wolves, foxes, and even protogens or any other species known.

All you need to take part is an idea that you want to bring to life.

The furry maker night will run every first week of the month.

This is not a taught class, more like an informal working group of self-directed makers.

While you can bring your fursuit in, either to work on it as a project or for repairs, it is heavily discouraged to wear them inside the space. Accessories such as tails are also discouraged for safety reasons.

We are looking forward to seeing every fur in our space.

Tog Hackerspace at Cork Carnival of Science 2026

Tog Hackerspace is heading south this weekend for the Cork Carnival of Science in Fitzgerald Park.

On Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th of June, the park will be packed with family-friendly experiments, interactive activities, garden games, street food, live demonstrations, big top science shows, hands-on workshops and plenty more.

We will be there both days from 11.00am to 5.00pm on Discovery Drive with a range of interactive games and projects made by our members. Expect hands-on fun, blinking lights, clever builds and a chance to see what can be created in a community makerspace.

Tog is a volunteer-run hackerspace based in Dublin, where people come together to make, learn, repair, build and share skills. Events like Cork Carnival of Science are a great chance for us to get out of the space, meet new people and hopefully spark a bit of curiosity.

Cork Carnival of Science is supported by Cork City Council and Research Ireland.

If you are in Cork this weekend, come say hello. Bring your curiosity, we’ll bring the projects.

More info on the festival:
https://www.corkcity.ie/en/cork-carnival-of-science/