National award for Kilcar company

As Irish brands go, Fisherman Out of Ireland is right up there with Barry’s Tea and Kerrygold and is located right in the heart of Donegal’s Gaeltacht in Kilcar.

Yesterday the company which employs 22 local people scooped some of the top awards at prestigious Showcase 2016 in Dublin’s RDS.

Showcase is Ireland’s International Creative Expo and is one of the country’s largest international trade show.  The annual event is attended by over 5,000 buyers from Ireland and up to 26 countries around the world, generating sales orders of up to €20 million

The Kilcar company won the Best Newcomer at the event but was also named  Overall Winner of the Showcase Best Product Award  yesterday morning in the RDS.

 Initially the  knitwear label was founded in 1991 by the Blarney Woollen Mills company which is an Irish owned family business. Fisherman is managed by one of Kilcar’s adopted sons, Dubliner Des Daly. Also referred to as the  ‘Captain’, he has lived all his working life in Donegal working in the knitwear industry.

The knitwear company are a crew of 22 loyal, local people.

The average length of employment a staff member has worked with the company is 20 years  with  many years of valuable experience making quality knitwear.

PIctured: Karen Hennessy Chief Executive of the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland (centre) pictured with Des Daly and Louise Elliott from Fisherman out of Ireland, who were the Established Designer Winner for the Knitwear Project at Showcase 2016. Picture Andres Poveda.