The Kilmorna Collection

25/09/2026

A slightly odd question….

Who here makes things?

Not necessarily for a living.

Not necessarily under a brand name.

Not necessarily with an Instagram account, a logo and a photograph of themselves looking thoughtfully at the beach.

We mean people who actually make things.

Ceramics. Prints. Jewellery. Pencil Sharpeners. Textiles. Clothes. Wood. Books. Art. Objects. Strange things. Beautiful things. Useful things. Completely unnecessary things.

Things made by somebody, rather than ordered by somebody.

We have become interested in finding out who is doing this in Kerry, Limerick, Clare and even Cork.

So if you make something, tell us below.

If you know somebody who does, tag them.

Or just call in for a chat.

You do not need to send us a business plan.

In fact, please don’t.

We are asking for a reason.

For the moment, that is all you are getting.

24/09/2026

There is a small problem with preloved clothes.

When somebody buys something, it is actually gone.

There is no stockroom full of identical replacements.
No size run.
No also available in navy.

Yesterday’s Vision Ireland popup at TKC was exceptionally busy, and a lot of good pieces disappeared.

I got one myself.

So this morning, more stock is being brought out.

Which means today is not simply yesterday with fewer clothes.

There will be new things on the rails, new bags, new accessories and entirely new opportunities to become emotionally attached to something you had no intention of buying when you left the house.

If you were here yesterday, it is worth coming back.

If you weren’t, this is your one remaining chance.

And if you are the sort of person who enjoys finding something excellent before somebody else notices it, I would probably not leave it until 3.45pm.

The sensible thing would be to stay away.

That does not appear to be what people are doing.

22/09/2026

There is a particular kind of satisfaction in finding something very good for very little money.

Not, good for the price.

Actually good.

The sort of coat, dress, bag or pair of shoes that makes you check the label, check the price, and then look around to make sure nobody else has noticed it.

Vision Ireland are bringing their Pre-Loved Luxury pop-up to TKC this Wednesday and Thursday.

There’ll be clothes, designer pieces, accessories and, if the gods of secondhand retail are smiling, a few things that are frankly much too good to still be on the rail.

Wednesday 23 & Thursday 24 September
10am–4pm
The Kilmorna Collection, 23 Church Street, Listowel

Free entry. No booking.

Come in for a look.

Come in early if you’re serious.

I’ll be looking for a lovely frock for the races.

I image so will you.

20/09/2026

Last night Niall Cuddy and Paddy Doyle performed Woken Bird at TKC.

Afterwards I went to the pub because I thought it might help me digest what I had just witnessed.

It didn’t.

This morning, over coffee and toast, I was still thinking about it.

Niall is a musician and songwriter. Paddy is a poet and storyteller. That description is technically correct, but that’s about all it is.

For 45 minutes they moved through childhood, rural Ireland, books, ambition, friendship, cities, heroes, disappointment, hip-hop, poetry and some extraordinarily beautiful piano playing.

Nothing arrived in the order you expected.

Paddy would begin a story. Niall would find something inside it. A few piano notes would appear. The story would change direction. Then Paddy would turn again and somehow they would both arrive at exactly the same place.

They pivoted on a dime.

And the room followed.

Like swallows.

Woken Bird is ostensibly about two men tracing the strange routes that made them artists.

What they actually created last night was something much harder to describe.

A reminder that none of us got here in a straight line.

I want them back.

As friends and as artists.

19/09/2026

For the last few weeks, we’ve been in negotiations with McGillicuddy's Toy Shop.

They wanted a record player.

We had a Pro Ject Juke Box E1 in stock.

They, meanwhile, had just taken delivery of what I’m reliably informed will be one of this Christmas’s most wanted toys for children of all ages.

So a trade was suggested.

There was some discussion about supply and demand, scarcity, market forces and the extraordinary value of emerging formats.

Eventually McGillicuddy’s concluded that the only fair arrangement was a straight swap.

Our Pro-Ject Juke Box E1 for this.

To sweeten the deal, they even threw in a few albums so I wouldn’t have to begin my journey into this exciting new musical format completely unprepared.

I now own Shawn Mendes, Shania Twain, and Bruno Mars and what appears to be Katy Perry.

All on vinyl.

Technically.

I have been assured this is the future.

The Pro-Ject was considerably more expensive, but apparently I need to stop thinking like that.

This is about supply and demand.

And Christmas.

I may have been robbed by a toy shop.

Very happy with it though.

In store at McGillicuddy’s and on display at TKC

18/09/2026

Paulina takes two Instax photographs of every dog that comes into TKC.

One goes home with the owner. The other goes on the wall.

The wall is growing.

I now know most of the names of dogs I have met once, while often the people who brought them in, have an advantage over me.

The dogs come in for Scooby snacks and to be adored.

This is just the standard practice.

Dogs are welcome at TKC, provided they don’t jump on unsuspecting customers, bark angrily at strangers or behave like dicks.

The same for people, I suppose.

16/09/2026

Had a lovely day off looking at old motorcycles with a friend.

I contributed very little mechanically, but I did hold a kitten.

And didn’t break anything.

A solid day.

15/09/2026

This Saturday, we are hosting Woken Bird as part of the Listowel International Storytelling Festival.

Woken Bird is Niall Cuddy and Paddy Doyle.

Niall has spent years making music, first with ilya K, then through his own work, using songs, loops, words and performance.

Paddy is a poet and storyteller. His work has taken him around Ireland, but it is rooted in the old stories, growing up in rural Ireland, leaving it, music, cities, memory and finding your way back.

Together they have made a 45 minute piece of music, spoken word and story.

It travels from rural Ireland to New York, Berlin and San Francisco, before coming back again.

A few months ago we had a chat.

We said yes immediately.

We are very lucky to have it.

Woken Bird
Saturday 19 September
7pm
The Kilmorna Collection

Free entry. Donations welcome ( for them, not me ).

12/09/2026

11/09/2026

I love owning a record store.

We’re currently listening to a record that nobody else is allowed to listen to yet.

I have not stolen it. It arrived in a delivery this morning.

Orville Peck’s new album, Mule, is not yet available on Spotify and cannot be sold in shops until next Friday. There were two copies in the box.

One is for the shop.

The other is now under my personal protection on the Technics SL-1200 M7 turntable..

I have loved Orville Peck since Pony.

I had hoped Mule would be good.

There was no need to worry.

I have been playing it all morning.

I will continue playing it this afternoon.

Tomorrow is looking increasingly country.

We may put something else on if the Gardaí call in.

They can be quite strict about unauthorised music being played to the people of North Kerry.

It would not be the first time we have been in trouble.