Brighten up your interiors with these lights designed in Ireland

Here are our top handmade picks for this season

Powder-coated metal plates with cut-aways are ultra-modern and inspired by Neptune, Mars and Jupiter, mullanlighting.com

Irish designers have been telling tales in light for decades, and some of our best and brightest offer modern classics at a very reasonable spend. Before you drift into a lighting design shop swinging with branded or often nameless products from overseas, take a look at just a little of what our home-grown luminaries have on show for the same price point (possibly even better).

“Storied lamps from forgotten wood” — a poetic introduction to Copperfish lighting, based in Co. Wicklow. Assembled from blocks of salvaged and storm-fallen timber, twisted by nature, time and various biological stresses, each lamp tells an imperfect Irish tale in a polished bit of timeless design. 

Established in 2016 by Eoin Shanley as a venture from a shed behind his thatched cottage (tenderly restored), Copperfish represented the Irish Design Council of Ireland at New York’s Shoppe Object event, were shortlisted in the UK Gift of the Year awards in 2020, and have been selected for Design Ireland every year since 2018. 

Each of their lamps, wall, floor lights and pendants use native woods. With a unique grain pattern — no two are alike. Pure in form, but fascinating in the best wabi-sabi way, Copperfish pieces come with a card telling this lamp’s natural provenance (ideal for the oncoming confetti season as a hand-crafted and affordable gift). 

Liberties wall light from the new collection at Copperfish. A long bulb with meandering filament sits within a copper pipe that borrows from the distillers and brewers at the heart of the Liberties for hundreds of years. €485

The line is post-modern but the materials are honest, and vintage inclined. In terms of price, they are a steal for a side-table, hall, bedroom or intimate setting struggling for warmth and character – a gentled industrial elegance whether on or off.

Together with the new Art Deco-inclined Liberties range, my choice would be the balloon-on-block style of the Dromod table lamp in spalted beech, taken from a tree that collapsed in a storm in 2012. €165. 

Sugan Ceiling Light in storm-fallen spalted beech by Copper Fish

Going large, there’s the magnificent Súgán ceiling light, inspired by the ropes on the under-side of Irish thatch. A 1m oak timber beam from Kilkenny, it sits robustly 50cm from the ceiling (made to order, you can ask Eoin for bespoke dimensions). The timber supports three vintage-style LED bulbs, and features cream, round, natural hemp rope or chain, finished on two vintage-style brass ceiling plates. Highly customisable, €465 to order, copperfish.ie.

Characterful metal is having more than a moment, and for my money lacquered, raw steel has a chic, masculine presence doubled up with a glowing golden interior. With all the polished planes of our perfect laminated and veneered furnishings and flooring, it’s important to layer on texture and interest. 

For something edgy (without excessive rough luxe), the Irish designer Shane Holland Workshop, based in Duleek, County Meath, in the historic Boyne Valley offers a series of award-winning ideas. Very arty, but highly practical where you need them to be, their lighting succeeds in a variety of natural materials, plastic and even composites with confident flair.

Known widely for commercial and highly architectural domestic commissions, SHD offers handsome lighting to order that compete well with mid-ranged buys from top European brands. 

As an alternative to spots, the clean lines and directional performance of a suspended tubular light, used alone or terraced and/or staggered gives a lovely vertical moment over a kitchen island, table or counter. The relatively slim profile is more discreet than a dish or shrubby confection, allowing plenty of natural backlight to rake through them as decorative features by day.

The Mitre range in lacquered raw steel is cut at 45 degrees to give a visual diamond shape, which Shane explains, “can help with a wall wash lighting effect. The two structural wires connecting the light to the ceiling keep the fixture in place.” 33cm with a 63cm drop €267. 

The Cymbal line.

If your taste runs to Poulsen PH5 stacked dish styles, look up the torched copper and steel Cymbal line, developed with Architect Greg Tisdall, to wistfully inhabit the challenging voids of high ceilings. They are customisable into wonderful gliding groups for any stairwell, and the level of drop can be matched to your order. From €325,shanehollanddesign.com

Mullan Lighting was founded by Mike Treanor in 2009, inside an abandoned mill in Mullan Village, close to the border with Northern Ireland. The presence of the company has breathed new life into a formerly depopulated area, attracting other creatives and artisans. If you don’t know their work, go straight to their website to enjoy the entire unique, Irish-made collection.

I was totally blown away by the company’s eye-catching new Celestial Colour series of wall lights, which are hard to categorise. Made in powder-coated metal plates with cut-aways, they are ultra-modern and inspired by Neptune, Mars and Jupiter in a futuristic design which recalls the most haute couture moments of Art Deco. Prices from €233.70 without the mirror-topped bulb in a choice of colour-ways.

If you like the look but want something a little closer to Earth, the Bog Oak disc light has the same exposed bulb, and replicates the ancient oak found preserved in peat in a ceramic dish with an organic, crackled textured surface. There’s some Celtic pull there in the millstone shape. Again, a very fair price for a 28cm diameter hand-made fitting, at €160, mullanlighting.com.

Changing out the shade? Well, it’s blinding, common-sense advice. How often do we unpick an entire light fitting before exploring how it could be re-tailored with a different shade to direct or diffuse light in a whole new way. 

Fabric shades offer the ultimate in decorative frolics, and no one does it better than Dublin maker Sarah O’Dea of Shady & The Lamp. The studio individually draft every one of their custom shades.

“There are a number of ways you can incorporate a traditional lampshade into a modern scheme,” she explains. “Using geometric shapes like hexagons, cubes and straight-sided Empires are a good starting point as this will keep things simple and free from fuss. 

Sarah O'Dea: "We're giving our most popular shapes a whole new splash of colour. Combining traditional shapes with rich saturated palettes, these statement lighting pieces aren't going to date as they transcend trends." Prices from €148

"Covering with fabrics such as velvet, tweed and linen will enhance the form of the design and printed fabric can be a friend as it has the ability to reinforce a theme and bolster the overall tone of a space.”

Sarah advises on how to handle a pert new or renovated shade when you first unpack and fit it. “Fabric lampshades are lightweight and require a gentle touch so it’s important that you always handle them by their internal metal fitting, otherwise known as the Gimble. This will help prevent any indentations where your fingers might dent and/or stain the fabric. Make sure those hands are sparkling clean before handling the goods.” 

For more advice on cleaning your shade, Sarah offers a lesson at shadyandthelamp.ie.