Kenmare gets the conversation started for designers from across the world

Home Editor Eve Kelliher discovers why creatives love making tracks to the Kingdom as Design Kenmare rolls out the red carpet this month  

Designers Paul Galvin, left, and Bryan O'Sullivan, right, and architect Amanda Bone, centre, are Kerry-bound for the Design Kenmare festival.

Kenmare's Georgian-era planned layout, artisan heritage, and vibrant cultural scene have ensured it’s the perfect playground and sounding board for creatives.

More than 40 world-famous makers are Kerry-bound as Design Kenmare takes place over three days in November.

Ireland’s first place-based design festival, the programme will open 18 conversations from Friday, November 13, to Sunday, November 15, between architects, interior designers, graphic designers, furniture makers, photographers, illustrators, fashion designers and retailers in the town at the top of the Beara and Iveragh peninsulas. “There is no death by PowerPoint — this is not a conference,” says Éamonn O’Sullivan of the organising committee.

“Design Kenmare is a festival of conversations rather than presentations: creatives from different disciplines talking about the lives, work and experiences that connect them.”

Kenmare provides, he adds, “the perfect backdrop”.

Éamonn should know. The graphic designer returned to his roots after several years studying and working away from the Kingdom.

Eamonn O'Sullivan in his graphic design studio.

The Kenmare man, who owns the multidisciplinary and award-winning Anchor Studio, found himself in good company — as several of his contemporaries were doing likewise. “There are many people from Kenmare in my age group, mid-40s, who have lived away for 10 or 15 years and moved back, especially in the last 10 years or so,” he says.

The designer had lived in London for three years, where he met his wife. A move to Dublin followed, then eight years ago, they relocated back to Kenmare. “It’s brilliant. I wouldn’t change it,” says Éamonn.

Pointing out how Kenmare is “one of the world’s first designed towns”, he adds: “Some of the best exchanges of the weekend happen on the street and in the pub between events and over breakfast.

Interior designer Róisín Lafferty will be sharing her secrets at Design Kenmare. Picture: Daniëlle Siobhán

“The festival’s motto is Experience Design Differently, and that is what it means.”

Another Kenmare native who travelled full circle is furniture maker Adrian Duyn.

Adrian Duyn.

Born and raised in the town, Adrian later left Kenmare to study furniture conservation and restoration, then moved back in 2007 to join the family business, Joop Duyn & Sons Ltd, to lead its furniture design/making. Adrian’s father, Joop Duyne, arrived in Kenmare in 1979 from near Haarlem in the Netherlands. 

Adrian says: “My dad had come to work on the furniture in the Park Hotel before it opened. He fell in love with the town, the country, and Kenmare's already-establishing creative culture, so he tore up his ticket, settled down, and married Mum (Maria) from Cork.

Adrian and Éamonn put together an exhibition at Kenmare Butter Market in 2004. 

The event, the Le Chéile showcase, brought together 28 local makers, designers, photographers, and publishers, and was a sell-out success, sparking the idea for Design Kenmare.

London-based artist Kelly Anna will be among the speakers at Design Kenmare. She is pictured beside the panoramic artwork titled ‘Nurture Nature ’, which wrapped around Paddington Square. Picture: Paul Grover

Both Éamonn and Adrian had worked on the design of The Lansdowne Kenmare in recent years with the venue’s owners, Aileen and Patrick Hanley.

The Lansdowne served as the hub for the inaugural Design Kenmare last year when the festival organisers joined forces with hotelier Patrick Hanley and cultural festival specialist Naoise Nunn to develop the concept with the support of Kerry County Council.

Working with the wider Le Chéile network, they curated an exceptional roster of speakers for Design Kenmare.

All talks on the festival programme — and these are talks, Éamonn is keen to stress, it’s not meant to be like a “city-style” conference — take place within walking distance of one another, allowing attendees to engage with speakers and fellow creatives throughout the weekend.

Fashion designer Anna Guerin.

“We believe some of the most exciting interactions will be those ‘in-between’ ones, the happenings between the events 

Likening the event to the iconic Dingle destination jamboree for melody-makers, the organisers often bill it as “Other Voices for design”. 

So as you set out along Shelbourne Street, you could be rubbing shoulders with the likes of fellow music aficionado, fashion designer, and former Kerry footballer Paul Galvin.

Louise Duffy.

Paul, whose wife, acclaimed broadcaster Louise Duffy, will be among the hosts in 2026, is returning for the second year, as are Kenmare-born world-renowned interior designer Bryan O’Sullivan, architect Amanda Bone, and interior architect Róisín Lafferty.

Other speakers include Neville Brody, the graphic designer who gave The Face its look and went on to work with Nike, Coca-Cola and The Times; Amer Shomali, director general of the Palestinian Museum and co-director of the award-winning animated documentary The Wanted 18; Frieda Gormley and Javvy M Royle, founders of House of Hackney; Jim Dixon of superyacht studio Winch Design; illustrators Kelly Anna and Holly Pereira; photographers Boo George, Matthew Thompson and Trevor Hart; lighting designer Willie Duggan; Ken Deegan, formerly of Pentagram New York; and Gerin Trautenberger, director of Creative FED, the European Federation for Creative Economy.

Interior designer Bryan O'Sullivan.

During Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Design Kenmare has been chosen as one of four regional centres to host delegates from the European creative-industries gathering convened in Dublin by the Design and Crafts Council Ireland and Creative FED.

Dozens of delegates from across Europe travel to Kenmare on Friday, November 13, and Creative FED’s director Gerin Trautenberger joins the programme on Saturday. Design Kenmare will be the closing event of this year’s Irish Design Week.

The inaugural weekend last November attracted over 500 visitors, selling out its evening sessions and proving that off-season events can thrive. “This year’s programme has nearly doubled in scale,” adds Éamonn.

The Design Kenmare festival team.

The programme is produced by a voluntary committee of Kenmare’s creative community with festival co-director Naoise Nunn and festival co-director and producer Maureen Gudgeon.

“Last year I was asked by people in Kenmare if the festival was for them. I said that because everything everyone touches is designed — door handles, cutlery, application forms, your phone — then design touches everyone, so yes, it is for you!” says Naoise.

Tickets are on sale now at Designkenmare.com.