You don’t have to stray far from home to find gorgeous gifts with integrity
Combine thoughtful gifts with social impact
Until December 31, Folláin, the family-owned Irish preserves company, will donate 50 per cent of all proceeds from online sales to The Simon Communities of Ireland, continuing the #TheGiftofHome partnership that began in 2021. Mícheál Ó Lionáird of Folláin explains, “Home is at the heart of everything we do – it’s where good food, care, and community come together. Supporting The Simon Communities of Ireland feels like a very natural partnership for us, because everyone deserves that same sense of belonging.
Every order, every gift box, every small act of generosity adds up to something powerful – a real, tangible difference for people who need it most.” Folláin’s Christmas online gift shop has a range of festive boxes and collections: The 12 Days of Christmas Preserves – twelve surprise preserves to savour in the lead-up to Christmas, €14.99; 12 Days of Cheese Pairings – twelve relish and chutney mini pots, to accompany festive cheeseboards, €14.99; 3 Jar Collections – The Cheeseboard Collection and The Christmas Preserve Collection, both €10; 6 Jar Christmas Preserve Gift Box – a festive larder staple, ideal for Christmas hosts and food lovers alike, €25, and the 6 Jar Cheese Pairing Gift Box, €20. Toast, and its close friend, cheese, will have never been so happy.
The ultimate house tour
Netflix’s House of Guinness, Ireland’s most famous dynasty, captured attention and imaginations all over the world, even as it refused to let the truth get in the way of a good story. The wonderful homes of the Guinness family in Ireland and the UK are now fully – and factually! – explored by the gifted writer and historian Adrian Tinniswood who weaves the histories of the legendary Guinness family – brewers, philanthropists and socialites – through their mansions and town houses, in The Houses of Guinness (Scala, €34.99) Tinniswood opens the door to Farmleigh in the Phoenix Park, and Luggala in the Wicklow Mountains, to Ashford Castle in Co Mayo, Luttrellstown Castle in Co Dublin and 80 St Stephens Green – now known as Iveagh House, home to the Department of Foreign Affairs – among other lavish pads. The pictures are super but this is a really great read too – brilliantly researched and fascinating. I couldn’t put it down which is a bit awkward in the bed, as it is a large book.
Weaving with words
Foxford’s bespoke embroidery service for scarves and throws is now available at Arnotts for Christmas (and all year round at www.foxford.com). The embroidery service means you mark a moment in thread – a date you’ll never forget, a child’s name, a special word, or just the giftee’s initials, on lambswool scarves, signature throws and baby blankets, all woven in Foxford, Co Mayo, one of the oldest working mills in the country. The Foxford team carefully embroider the text by hand. At Arnotts from Wednesday to Sunday throughout November and December and online, with delivery worldwide. Lambswool scarves start at €30.95, throws at €129, and lambswool baby blankets, at €59.
For the West Cork set
Renowned Irish landscape photographer Norman McCloskey has published his fourth book, Headlands – Images of West Cork, a stunning monograph featuring 114 images capturing the unique beauty of West Cork. Headlands features coastal and inland images from Kinsale to the Beara Peninsula, an area Norman has been visiting and photographing for the past three decades. Dramatic coastal seascapes, scenes of serenity, beautiful breaking light, and details of the vernacular man-made features all combine in this unique look at one of Ireland’s most beautiful areas. Castles, tower houses, signal towers and navigational markers, famous lighthouses and West Cork’s vernacular architecture feature, as do islands off the coast. €45; www.vibesandscribes.ie.
Wind them down at bedtime
Oscar Wilde’s Stories for Children (Little Island, €18.99) with a foreword by Colm Tóibin, is a lovely luxury gift edition of Wilde’s stories, illustrated by Lauren O’Hara, who has won all sorts of awards for book illustration. The stories are printed in a 19th-century typeface from Ireland’s National Print Museum and it’s the first time an Irish edition has has original illustrations. Wilde published his collection in 1888, and six stories from the collection, including the Happy Prince, The Selfish Giant, and The Nightingale and The Rose, are included in this lovely book. I gave a copy to my neighbour to read to her brand new granddaughter but it’s likely she will enjoy them much more than the little one – with Wilde there is always a deeper story under the surface.
The new hearth
And for when the babies are asleep… I’m a great fan of Rathborne’s candles and love a few scents in particular – Dublin Dawn and Dublin Dusk, and Wild Mint, Watercress and Thyme. Seanchaí Ember is the newest candle, and two nights in, I was hooked on its roasted-coffee-beans-warm-wood-soft-floral scent. It’s both grounding and uplifting and it’s become a bit of a ritual, this candle lighting for me. Seanchaí, the Irish word for storyteller, draws on Ireland’s heritage of storytelling but these days and nights, a candle, or candles, often replaces the open fire when we get together for an evening of chat. No nasties of course, just 100% natural waxes in a beautiful brown glass. if I were hosting, I’d be delighted if someone arrived with one of these.
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