Kilkenny

The Kilkenny store in Dublin is Ireland’s largest emporium for Irish designed products.  In 2013 they proudly celebrated their 50th year in business, promoting Irish design and supporting Irish artists and craftspeople.

Their philosophy is to offer customers a modern and contemporary interpretation based on the best of Irish traditions. Kilkenny stores have been associated with the Irish craft and design industry for five decades.

In 1998 the group was re-launched as Kilkenny. This name reflects both links with the original Kilkenny Design Workshop ideal as well as confidence and desire to move forward into the future. The following year saw Kilkenny become an independent entity, under the directorship of sisters Marian O’Gorman and Bernadette Kelleher Nolan. Under their guidance, the Nassau Street shop and restaurant continued to flourish, whilst new Kilkenny outlets have since been opened in Killarney, Galway, Cork, Cashel, Shanagarry, Stillorgan, Trim, Douglas, Swords and Newbridge.

The name Kilkenny remains synonymous with the finest of Irish craftsmanship. As contemporary tastes are far more sophisticated than they once were, and due to constant demand for new and improved high-quality products, Kilkenny continues to develop confidence in reaching a more flexible and imaginative approach to retailing.

The years since the opening of the Kilkenny Design Workshops have seen Irish craft and design evolve into a booming domestic and export industry. Its ongoing success still depends on the nurturing of new talents and products. As it faces the future, Kilkenny is proud to be a part of this process.

 Kilkenny has gathered a well-established supply chain, such as the potters Louis Mulcahy and Stephen Pearce, as well as designers Orla Kiely and John Rocha who are internationally recognised as masters of their craft. Kilkenny predominantly supplies Irish-made and designed products with a smaller range of internationally well-known brands. Irish glass has also made its name abroad, with companies like Jerpoint and Tipperary Crystal emerging alongside the long-established Waterford Crystal. Kilkenny’s success is due to high-quality Irish production linked with a long history of worldwide shipping offered. These resources have become all the more accessible because of the introduction of our new and improved website launched in the summer of 2012.

Kilkenny currently have eleven own-brand stores in Dublin City, Stillorgan, Swords, Newbridge, Cork City, Douglas, Shanagarry, Galway, Killarney, Cashel and Trim and also two sister brand stores, known as Christy’s, in Killarney, Co. Kerry and Cobh, Co. Cork.