Why are we here?
Ireland has an extraordinary amount of talent. Silversmiths, weavers, potters, leather workers, designers. People who have spent years getting very good at one thing.
So little of that work leaves the country. The makers are small and they are good at making things, not at exporting, so the work stays here by default. Meanwhile the version of Ireland sold abroad is shamrocks and airport shops, which is not the same country at all.
This is a hand-picked selection of our favourite artists, artisans and products. Not a directory. Not everything we could get our hands on. The ones we would buy ourselves.
The name
Lisheenaleen is a townland in West Cork, and it is where we are from. Lisín an Lín, the little fort of the flax.
We choose slowly
We buy the way we would buy for ourselves: slowly, and with a reason for each piece. Somebody has already looked at ten of these and kept one.
We tell you the truth about every piece
Every product on this site says where it was made, at the level we can actually stand over. Three possibilities, and we use the words plainly:
- Made in a named county in Ireland. Manufactured here, and we name the town where we know it.
- Designed in Ireland, made elsewhere. An Irish brand whose production happens in another country, and we name that country.
- An Irish brand. Where we have not been able to establish manufacturing, we say so rather than implying otherwise.
Plenty of shops let the word Irish do work it has not earned. We would rather you knew exactly what you were buying, including on the occasions when the honest answer is less impressive.
The same goes for how things get to you. Nothing sits in a warehouse. Orders from our makers go straight to the maker, and they post the piece themselves. Our own prints are printed to order and posted by our print partner, which is why they can arrive separately.
Questions, or you make something you think belongs here: get in touch.