ON THE ROPES (2026)100% Organic Cotton
Embroidered in Ireland
One Size (Adjustable)
3D-Printed Pencil Holder (PLA)
Engraved yellow wooden pencil
Original 120mm film photographs by Sadbh O’ Brien
purchase here
ON THE ROPES (2026) is a cap commissioned by Temple Bar Gallery + Studios in which Herlihy pulls references from unarchived fragments, found at the back of storage rooms, or virtually spiralling down the threads of online forums as they scavenge for remnants of those who have been deliberately or accidentally excluded from society.
Alongside the nostalgic naughties shrug emoticon, the cap features snippets of text pulled from the female wrestling magazine Fighting Gals Monthly: A Galaxy of Female Combat where women's sexuality was deployed as a combative tool to patriarchal resistance. The cap comes with a pencil inscribed with the words 'Bounce Back!' and a custom-designed, 3D-printed pencil holder inspired by those commonly found on construction workers' hard hats.
Through these various elements Herlihy encourages the wearer to hold space for the transformative power of collapse, a position which counters the modern-day neoliberal narrative that we all must be 'resilient', and simply 'bounce back' through labour to meet the daily demands. ON THE ROPES celebrates the great number of strained bodies, and those who resist flexibility, in favour of challenging the status quo and shattering a system which never served us.
Embroidered in Ireland
One Size (Adjustable)
3D-Printed Pencil Holder (PLA)
Engraved yellow wooden pencil
Original 120mm film photographs by Sadbh O’ Brien
purchase here
ON THE ROPES (2026) is a cap commissioned by Temple Bar Gallery + Studios in which Herlihy pulls references from unarchived fragments, found at the back of storage rooms, or virtually spiralling down the threads of online forums as they scavenge for remnants of those who have been deliberately or accidentally excluded from society.
Alongside the nostalgic naughties shrug emoticon, the cap features snippets of text pulled from the female wrestling magazine Fighting Gals Monthly: A Galaxy of Female Combat where women's sexuality was deployed as a combative tool to patriarchal resistance. The cap comes with a pencil inscribed with the words 'Bounce Back!' and a custom-designed, 3D-printed pencil holder inspired by those commonly found on construction workers' hard hats.
Through these various elements Herlihy encourages the wearer to hold space for the transformative power of collapse, a position which counters the modern-day neoliberal narrative that we all must be 'resilient', and simply 'bounce back' through labour to meet the daily demands. ON THE ROPES celebrates the great number of strained bodies, and those who resist flexibility, in favour of challenging the status quo and shattering a system which never served us.