Some of Clare’s best up-and-coming craft & design businesses will be amongst over 100 companies who will get a chance to meet with buyers from all over the world as part of Local Enterprise Showcase at the 2025 Showcase event in the RDS, from January 19-21. An initiative of the Local Enterprise Offices, the Local Enterprise Showcase is a special area at Showcase that houses a range of Ireland’s newest designers.
Rowena Sheen Jewellery: Rowena comes from a family of designers & makers with a strong appreciation for natural & locally sourced products & materials. She has developed a range of unique handmade wooden jewellery made using, as far as possible, native, sustainably sourced Irish materials. Rowena works out of her gallery in the Courthouse Gallery in Ennistymon. https://rowenasheen.com. Sam Gleeson – This is what I do: Sam is a bladesmith based in Miltown Malbay, specialising in culinary knives combining traditional blacksmith skills with the precision of a furniture maker, creating heirloom pieces for daily use. Sam is a multi-award-winning designer/maker & sells his work worldwide to private collectors, chefs & home cooks alike. His works have been purchased by the National Museum of Ireland, the National Gallery & more. https://thisiswhatido.ie.
Quin Art: Artist Helen Lowe is a visual artist with many paintings sold worldwide. Helen Lowe’s paintings capture the solidarity of seascapes, landscapes, and fauna of Ireland. The selected awe-inspiring paintings are brought to life using classical elements of earth, water, fire, and air, giving the images a three-dimensional feel. https://quinartshop.com. Siar Photography: SIAR, meaning ‘West’ in Irish, is a range of contemporary photography prints of Ireland founded in 2019 by husband and wife team, Gary and Aoife.
SIAR Photography offers over 130 original photographs by Gary, with each print printed, packaged, and sold from their studio in Ennis. They also offer greeting cards, notebooks, postcards, an annual calendar, and have collaborated with a local candle producer to create their first candle Trá, a scent inspired by the Irish beach and coastline. https://siarphotography.ie. The event, which is a pinnacle event in the global design and crafts calendar, will open its doors to thousands of buyers from across the world, generating millions of euros in sales orders during the show. Recent participants from Clare include the likes of Wix & Wax, Palm Free Soap, Creative Clay, and Moher Soap Company. Local Enterprise Office Clare has been working with Rowena Sheen, Sam Gleeson, Helen Lowe & Gary Collins on merchandising for their stands, marketing, and sales techniques to ensure they maximise opportunities at the event. Head of Enterprise at LEO Clare, Padraic McElwee, believes this is an opportunity like no other for up-and-coming craft and design clients looking to make that breakthrough. “To be exposed to this many high-quality buyers in one place is an incredible opportunity for any business starting out. If things go well at this event, a business could fill their book for the year and may well establish a partnership that could extend longer than that and help them grow. While that won’t happen for every business, just to be here, see other clients, get new ideas, and develop their skills in marketing and sales will stand by them going forward.” This year, all Local Enterprise Showcase clients were entered into the Business of Craft Awards, and Rowena Sheen Jewellery has been named a finalist in the Sustainability Champion category. The awards will take place on Monday, January 20 at Showcase.
