"Love Irish Crafts" - Meet Donal Moloney

This week I wanted to introduce you to the work of Donal Moloney who runs Moloney Woodcraft in Celbridge, Co. Kildare. Donal is a fully qualified carpenter/joiner and he's had over ten years experience working as a craftsman. He recently decided to take a new direction with his work where he could be more creative and give himself a bit more of a challenge. He studied art in school and kept his interest in it so thought he could fuse his joinery and artistic skills into a new business.

Donal also did some research and discovered that Ireland is seeing a bit of a baby boom at present so an idea struck him. A friend suggested he make children's stools personalised with the child's name - as she couldn't find one anywhere and so the the idea blossomed to make keepsake boxes, toy chests, wooden letters and children's furniture. Family and friends loved what he was doing but he real test came when someone outside ordered from him. And suddenly the orders started to increase and Donal knew he had the beginning of a business.

Moloney Woodcraft was born in March 2010. I asked Donal where he gets his inspiration from and he told me " I think from a young age I have wanted to be my own boss. I was always interested in business and have always read biographies of successful business people. In a business sense, people like Richard Branson, Bill Cullen, Theo Paphitis, Denis O'Brien, Mary-Ann O'Brien and Jerry Kennelly have inspired me to run my own business."

Donal continued to tell me, "My love of woodworking, drawing, art and design comes from my Dad, who is an architect.

He has a great eye for detail and really appreciates quality craftsmanship. I think gradually over the years, I have picked up these traits from him, unknown to myself. I think my inspiration simply comes from wanted to produce quality pieces. I sometimes see pieces in various shops that have been mass produced somewhere and think to myself - I can make something way better than that . That thought is often my starting point."

Well I think Donal is onto something myself. Each piece is beautifully made and painted in strong vibrant colours. I love the beautiful lettering - I'd say he'd be great at doing lettering for shops and homes as well as for children's rooms.

Donal's work can be seen on his website, Moloney Woodcraft or you can follow him on Twitter @mwoodcraft (which is where I found him) or find him on Facebook.

As always, this post is part of my "Love Irish Crafts" campaign that I am running year long on my blog as part of the Year of the Craft 2011- there are links through to the Crafts Council of Ireland and Crafts Northern Ireland site above.

Are you a crafts person? Would you like to be considered for my blog? Please do not hesitate to contact me! Please be sure to LIKE Nenaghgal on Facebook as well for regular updates.