25 FINALISTS UNVEILED FOR THE INAUGURAL MAKERS' ACADEMY

23rd July 2026: Following an exceptional response from makers in the Republic of Ireland, Kilkenny Design and the Local Enterprise Offices have today unveiled the 25 finalists selected for their Makers' Academy, a landmark business development programme designed to help some of Ireland's most exciting creative brands scale from independent makers into commercially successful retail businesses.

Receiving hundreds of applications from talented makers, designers, and founders nationwide, the highly competitive selection process identified 25 businesses demonstrating outstanding creativity, commercial potential and the ambition to become Ireland's next generation of consumer brands.

The finalists represent 15 counties across the Republic of Ireland and categories including homeware, jewellery, fashion, craft, food, and wellbeing.

The 25 shortlisted finalists are:

Leinster:

1. Ailbhe Cronin, Appleberry Atelier - Wicklow
2. Lina Liu, Cosy Life Ireland - Louth
3. Caroline Duffy, Caroline Duffy Designs - Louth
4. Joanna Brien-Sammons, SIÓG Botanicals - Kildare
5. Laura Jane Phelan, LJ Phelan Artshop - Fingal
6. Tara Kelly, TAE TEA – Dublin South
7. Claire Schorman, By Claire Schorman - Wicklow
8. Bríd Fanning, Bríd Fanning Art - Meath
9. Iryna Ilina, illlina – Dublin South
10. Arzu Gorbil, The Crochet Dolls – Dublin South
11. Betzy Nina Medina, Sandia Dublin – Dublin City
12. Jason Lowe, Paperduck - Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown
13. Siobhan Daly, Siobhan Daly Designs - Meath
14. Sinead Thompson, LilyMoon - Kildare
15. Shauna Barcoe, Wish-Penny Creations - Kilkenny

Munster:

1. Judit MacNally, Cocoa by Judit - Waterford
2. Ailish Malone, Ailish Malone Art & Design Centre - Clare
3. Jayné Cahill, Jayné Cahill Art - Waterford
4. Emma Hanrahan, Noa Jewellery - Tipperary
5. Laura Lyons, Sónua – Cork North & West
6. Kiera Murphy, The Colourpop Brunette - Limerick

Connaught:

1. Lorraine Fletcher, Lorraine Fletcher Art - Galway
2. Jamie Dent, Sláinte Sea Moss - Mayo
3. Isabella McKeown, BY IZZY The Label – Leitrim

Ulster:

1. Shelley Adams Harte, The Family Silver – Cavan

This new partnership between Kilkenny Design and the Local Enterprise Offices (LEO) aims to build on the significant supports already available to the craft and design sector through the LEOs from funding and mentoring to training and digital and green consultancy and grants.

For more than 60 years, Kilkenny Design has championed Irish makers, helping generations of designers and craftspeople bring their products to customers across Ireland and internationally.  The Makers' Academy represents the next evolution of that commitment, investing in the future of Irish creativity by partnering with the Local Enterprise Offices for this initiative giving emerging businesses the commercial skills, mentoring and retail expertise needed to grow sustainable brands.

Over the coming months, the finalists will participate in a programme of workshops, one-to-one mentoring and business coaching delivered in partnership with Kilkenny Design's senior leadership, buying, marketing and ecommerce teams, alongside leading industry, and enterprise experts.  Participants will receive practical guidance across retail strategy, branding, finance, ecommerce, digital marketing, and founder development, equipping them with the tools to accelerate their businesses.

As part of the Makers’ Academy, each finalist will also receive the opportunity to showcase their products through pop-ups in Kilkenny Design retail stores, providing exposure to customers and first-hand experience of trading within one of Ireland's best-known retail destinations.

L-R Isabella McKeown By Izzy The Label, Pamela Kerr Head of Enterprise Monaghan, Evelyn Moynihan CEO Kilkenny Design and Brid Fanning Artist.

Speaking about the finalists, Evelyn Moynihan, CEO of Kilkenny Design said, ‘The quality of applications exceeded all expectations and demonstrated the extraordinary creativity and entrepreneurial talent that exists across Ireland today. Selecting just twenty finalists was incredibly difficult. For more than six decades, supporting Irish makers has been central to who we are at Kilkenny Design. The Makers' Academy builds on that legacy by giving emerging businesses access to the commercial knowledge, retail expertise and mentoring that can help transform great ideas into successful, sustainable brands. We are excited to collaborate with these finalists and help shape the future of Irish design.’

For Pamela Kerr, Head of Craft and Design with the Local Enterprise Offices, this is a significant build on their existing offering to clients in the craft and design sector.  “Looking through this year’s finalists it’s brilliant to see so many existing Local Enterprise Office clients getting this opportunity.  We work so closely with them from that initial design or product stage right up to launching to market and beyond and now partnering with Kilkenny Design we get the chance to get them into stores and pop-ups.  We’re excited to see how the businesses develop as the programme progresses and hopefully on shelves later this year!”  

The programme will conclude this October with one overall winner receiving the opportunity to have their collection on shelf in a Kilkenny Design store.