Kathy Rose O'Brien’s Holiday Gift List
Kathy Rose O’Brien is an Irish actor and storyteller. When not treading the boards of Shakespeare’s Globe in London or taking to the stage of Ireland’s national theatre, The Abbey, Kathy Rose has curated museum exhibitions at venues like the Museum of Literature Ireland. She is a regular voice on Irish national broadcaster RTÉ radio, winning awards for her narration and radio drama performances. She champions women’s representation in front of and behind the camera through her work with Women in Film and TV Ireland, which she co-founded in 2014 alongside some of Ireland’s most dynamic film and tv makers. She is passionate about Irish design and fashion which she showcases on her Instagram account alongside photos of her travels and a near-obsessive number of shots of her favourite sea-scapes, the Wild Atlantic Way and Dublin Bay!
I’m all about stories so my favourite gifts are those that work doubly hard: books, objects or art that has a second meaning under the surface, be that one of sustainability, history or innovation. I love to fill my home with things that have layers of meaning and resonance. You’ll find a number of examples below of gifts that repurpose or recall. They provide wonderful ways, I think, to reach back and connect with the past. When you find special items that make sense of our humanity, you play a part in passing that story on to the next generation.
So here are the gifts I’m going to be gifting… and a list of those I dream of receiving on Christmas Day!
Here is a list of Kathy Rose’s gift ideas for this Christmas Season
Happy Christmas! Remember expensive or not, it is the story behind the gift that can bring the most pleasure, at least for the giver!
What I’m Buying for Others
Last year’s haul from unique Irish shop Scout included candlesticks and Christmas decorations by Coolree Design. This year, for smaller gifts and tokens, I’ve my eye on the brass coffee scoop and Bean and Goose hot chocolate pieces plus some stylish matchboxes.
Artist Christmas cards
Christmas cards will come via artist Caroline Canning and stocking fillers from the West of Ireland shops I discovered over the Summer. I was taken by the curation of art and design objects in Tree Bark Store in Moycullen and Salthill’s Ré Coffee and Design which had design-forward Irish soaps, candles and stylish tchotchkes.
Elements of Action make marble candle holders, elegant brass mirrors, wreaths and other gifts. this design firm also make bespoke brass kitchens. They have many gleaming strings to their bow!
A leather-handled glass ice bucket that looks like crystal or a set of beautifully-shaped whiskey tumblers, just the kind of grown-up gifts my friends will relish but won’t cost me a grown-up sum. The beautiful glass objects made by Glint Glass Studio are genius. Made from recycled wine bottles, and elevated by a skilled craftswoman, they belie their humble, sustainable origins.
Tea Bowl art by Mary Wallace.
The captivating and meaningful practice of Kintsugi is celebrated in these paintings by Mary Wallace, using real gold leaf. Seeing the beauty in the flaws; the cup becoming stronger and more beautiful after the break - all metaphors that sustain us in difficult times. We have weathered a lot over these past few years - and continue to - and this little reminder of perseverance will be appreciated by friends of mine.
Richard West
Keeping the gold art theme going, I picked up a beautiful handmade wood-turned piece by Richard West at The Clifden Arts Festival. Inside it is painted in gold leaf. Sensual, tactile objects from functional bowls and vases to sculptural art pieces.
Pearl Reddington Cosy scarves and sweaters in solid colours with a subtle flash of neon, Reddington’s knitwear is elegant and fashion-forward, adjectives that all too often can’t be put together. I love the shade of blue she uses, it’s so easy to wear. She’s a brand to watch.
The Project Arts Centre is the theatre in Dublin where the most exciting, radical and colourful new Irish theatre and dance takes place. I was just there seeing Emmet Kirwan’s show ‘Accents’ which after two sold-out runs, has captured a vibrant, young crowd of theatregoers. A new audience needs new seats and this is your chance, in 50 characters or less, you can personalise a nameplate on one of Project’s iconic red benches. Celebrate a special occasion, pay tribute to a loved one, share a memory, give props to a local business, add some humour, add some heart, whatever you wish, it’s yours to decide.
A Donation that Counts
If a theatre seat isn’t the right fit for my giftee, I’ll be giving a subscription to an Irish Charity in their name. Pieta House, Barnardos and Merchants Quay do fantastic work in the areas of mental health support, children and homelessness respectively, dealing between them with some of the biggest issues society faces. Internationally, the work of Plan International, particularly their Because I’m A Girl campaign, never ceases to inspire me.
Scribble and Stone is an Irish jewellery company with sustainability at its heart. I’ve been loving their gold hooped earrings since discovering them at Design Ireland shop.
What I Dream of Receiving
To make it handy for Dublin-based lovers and friends, items on my Wishlist can be picked up with minimal exertion; My featured shops can be found in my favourite part of Dublin’s city centre, those old-fashioned streets running off Grafton Street. But never fear, all can be bought online too, however far away from Joyce’s Dublin you may be. Literature fans visiting the city can seek respite from the retail and have a drink in Davy Byrne’s pub, a mere stone’s throw from most of the following emporiums.
Speaking of James Joyce, this bookshop is a gem. I collect first-edition Roald Dahl books. When I was little, a cousin of mine was a junior doctor in Roald Dahl’s ward in Oxfordshire. She told me he used to smoke out the window and she hadn’t the nerve to stop him. I couldn’t believe that someone I knew had such access to my favourite author! I now chase that proximity by seeking out the books that gave me so much pleasure as a youngster. The Ulysses Bookshop has a shopfront that captures the imagination. Artist Anne Heffernan’s popular collage cards and calendars are sold in the shop and also online at her eBay shop.
A first edition of ‘The Magic Finger’.
Prices from €45 for a humble, but pristine, hard-back 10th edition up to €3,000 for a rare, signed, first edition.
Susan Hunter Lingerie
This tiny but plush shop in the Westbury Mall, beside Dublin’s elegant Westbury Hotel, can really only fit one customer at a time, which suits the intimacy of choosing elegant underwear perfectly. I have my eye on pieces from La Perla and Andres Sarda.
A wonderful edition to the Westbury Shopping Mall, it’s an olfactory adventure when you step over the threshold, thanks to the enthusiastic staff. I’ll take a bottle of ‘Radical Rose’ by Matiere Premiere, s’il vous plait.
You know those rare times you put on an item of clothing and feel transformed? There’s a linen kimono-style robe from Stable of Ireland that has this effect on me. It’s €395 which I can’t quite justify for swanning about my house - but I’d get over the guilt quickly if someone else fancied footing the bill. Stable is a very special shop embodying style and quality that cultivates and celebrates Irish fabric and craft. You’ll find the best bed linen, napkins, throws and clothing at a variety of price points.
The candles from this west of Ireland scent emporium are the most glamorous Irish candles I’ve come across. My first purchases were Antique Library but Noble Fir is particularly festive for this time of year. Their Galway and Dublin shops are most worthy of an in-person visit.
I’ve had my hungry eyes on this Irish designer’s coats for a number of years. They grace the backs of some of Ireland’s most stylish folk.
Vintage Tiffany gold bracelet watch
While getting a timepiece repaired in Kish Jewellers. I spotted an antique Tiffany beauty. Slim gold bracelet watch studded with diamonds. A girl can dream.
Art
Petria Lenehan I mentioned loving stories within stories and so I’m excited to see the latest work from artist Petria Lenehan: “l’ll be releasing a special collection of 12 small works on paper on December 6th. Each painting incorporates a found Irish postcard, many of these date back to the early 1900’s - bearing thoughts, news and dedications written in pencil or ink. Some are clearly legible and others are harder to decipher, showing signs of age in scuff marks and minor tears, themselves eloquent of human usage and the passage of time.
There is a beautiful sense of nostalgia in the writing and somehow they come to represent echoes of our own threadbare stories and memories. By setting each postcard in a new context, my hope is that these paintings will bring new life to a forgotten message or personal story through the use of colour, feeling and movement .”