If you care about what you eat and where it comes from, that curiosity and attention to detail might well transfer to what you eat off. Indeed, an interest in food provenance can lead to an interest in kitchen accessory provenance.
There is plenty to draw from when laying our tables, thanks to our heritage in ceramics and the work of makers such as Nicholas Mosse and Derek Wilson. Also, Irish designers and makers working with Irish timbers and linens have us covered when it comes to the grittier aspects of kitchen life; the chopping and the tidying up.
Bunbary Boards were first crafted in 2007 by the Lisnavagh Timber Project, established by William Bunbury, who took over the management of Lisnavagh Estate in 2001. He wanted to sustainability protect the estate's hundreds of acres of woodland by finding creative ways to use fallen timber. What makes Bunbary Boards (from €29.50) special is that there is often an edge left unsmoothed on each board, retaining a characteristic of the original piece of wood it was carved from.
Another practical piece of wood comes from Waterford- based Little Hill Designs whose boards come in a range of shapes and sizes. There are large round ones and small square palettes of wood, perfect for chopping an apple and a wedge of cheese for a quick snack. These boards are available to buy at the Irish Design Shop.
The Saturday Workshop is another of my favourite makers working with wood. Edward and Iseult O'Clery are a father-daughter team who started making things together in their spare time as a way to channel the creative aspects of their respective professions in architecture and engineering. They make a range of wooden products and toys, but my favourite is their set of four geometric egg cups (€34). You can crack your boiled egg open over a square, circle, triangle or hexagon, depending on how you're feeling that day.
Also in the Irish wood realm are Superfolk, whose teapot trivets are made from Irish ash, beech and oak. The design team behind these surface protectors are designer and craft maker Gearoid Muldowney and architect Jo Anne Butler. Their aim is to design and make homewares "for people who love the wild outdoors" and their instagram account (@superfolk) evokes the west-of-Ireland lifestyle their brand embodies.
For bread and cheese knives, Chaim Factor in Wicklow is a one stop shop. Its bread and cheese knives (around €65) are made from the native woods of Wicklow.
Fingal Ferguson of Gubbeen seems to be taking a break from hand-crafting his exquisite knives but it might be worth seeing if he has any left for sale by contacting him directly through fingalfergusonknives.com. Cut your Cloth When it comes to tea towels, you can't get much better than 31 Chapel Lane. Based in Cavan, this company is led by Damien Hannigan (another architect) and Joi Fu, who work with Irish linens and tweeds to create homewares. Their range of linen tea towels (€16) are made with 100 percent Irish linen and come in an range of patterns and styles.
Also working with Irish linen is Enrich and Endure the apron makers from Northern Ireland. Based in Belfast and founded by brother-and-sister team Lorcan and Sarah Quinn, their aprons are made from 100 per cent Irish linen and are designed to be durable and hardy in the kitchen. Their ready-to-wear aprons start from £49 and come in a range of colours from orange to blue to cream.
Last but not least are The Tweed Project aprons. Available in two shades of grey, these aprons are designed by Aoibheann McNamara (of Ard Bia) and Triona Lillis in Galway as part of their Irish tweed and linen project, whose new range is being launched this winter.
