Aran Woolen Mills, Ireland’s leading knitwear brand, is celebrating 55 years of crafting beautifully designed garments in Ireland.

The company was set up in 1965 by Padraig and Maura Hughes with three intentions: 

A. To keep the local crafts alive.
B. To provide employment for the local community.
C. To provide their own Hughes children with something useful to do during the long summer holidays.

Aran Woolen Mills remains a family business and has grown and evolved over the years to become an icon of the Irish knitwear industry, treasured by its loyal clients all over the world.

Today, in addition to its perennially popular Aran knitwear, they also make extensive range of contemporary Irish knitwear for women and traditional Irish Sweaters for men.  By partnering with top Irish retailers like ourselves at CelticClothing.com, they have successfully brought the brand to customers across the globe.

It is not just the product offering that has expanded. Huge innovations in design and production have enabled Aran Woolen Mills to offer a diverse range of styles and colors in its garments – the current collection spans the spectrum from strong earthy tones to the latest fashion shades.  Aran Woolen Mills now focuses on merino wool, which is noted for its tactile qualities and is now complemented  by the addition of an even finer yarn, super soft merino, which is so soft that customers will love wearing it next to their skin.

 

With so much exciting change, it’s little wonder that Aran Woolen Mills has had to expand its manufacturing facility in Westport, Co Mayo, in order to ensure that supply can keep pace with demand. It now ranks as Ireland’s largest knitwear manufacturing plant and receives a steady stream of visitors throughout the year, all of whom are welcome to see and learn about AranWoolen Mills’ authentic Irish manufacturing process and to meet their wonderful staff – the driving force behind the company’s success.

Alongside such change however, the crucial elements of their success have remained constant: an unerring focus on design, quality, service, value for money and a commitment to creating unique designs inspired by Westport’s breathtaking scenery and the wild Atlantic coast.It is this attention to detail that has provided the foundation for Aran Woolen Mills success over the past half-century and hopefully will keep it in good stead for the next 50 years and beyond.

 

Padraig and Maura Hughes, the company founders, would be both proud and humbled to see how the small craft industry they established many years ago has grown and blossomed into the market leader it is today.