A bit of history About
Us...
Proprietor Maureen
McKervey designed and crafted her first tiara in 1989, for her
sister, Colleen. Colleen was unhappy with the selection
of headpieces and after going from shop to shop, asked her craft
enthusiast sister Maureen if she
might be able to design and craft one for her. Thereafter,
Maureen was called upon by family, friends, friends of
friends, and neighbours to
craft both Wedding and First Communion tiaras. Eventually the
word of mouth referrals developed into a viable business, and
Colleen Collections was born, named for Maureen's first
customer.
With the encouragement and support of the Galway Rural
Development Company, Maureen was awarded
marketing assistance under the European Leader II Programme for
innovative enterprise, and brought her designs to a global
audience with the establishment of this website in early 1998.
We are proudly the Republic of Ireland's first on-line
provider of handcrafted tiaras and wedding accessories.
With
appreciation for the government assistance, and for the
technology behind e-commerce that allows us to bring our craft
from the cottage to a global marketplace, and, of course, with
many thanks to our customers, Colleen Collections Wedding and
Communion accessories are now worn on very special days all
around the world.
Prompted by
customer enquires, we've added carefully selected, fine
quality special occasion accessories to our collections.
We're located on the banks of the
Island River in Ballymoe, Co. Galway, a rural village on the Galway
- Roscommon border. Ballymoe is famous for being the
birthplace of Father Edward Flanagan, founder of Boystown,
Nebraska, USA. You might have heard of the 1938 film
starring Spencer Tracy. After winning the Best Actor Oscar
for his role as Father Flanagan,
Spencer gave the Oscar to the real Father Flanagan in tribute
to his work with wayward boys. The Colleen Collections studio
workshop is located in what was once the home and doctor's
surgery of Father Flanagan's sister and brother-in-law; and
where he stayed on holidays at home.
Promising
quality craftsmanship and materials, every order is given the
personal attention deserving of your special occasion. We welcome any questions, comments,
or suggestions from visitors. If we don't have what you are
looking for, drop us a note and we'll refer you to an appropriate
source if we can.
Thank
you for visiting.
Colleen
Collections is a Registered Member,
Crafts Council
of Ireland.
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Colleen Collections acknowledges with
gratitude, support of Galway Rural Development and European
Leader II Programme for innovative enterprise
COLLEEN
COLLECTIONS
IN THE NEWS...
Weddings-Ireland.com
June, 1999
Feature story of the month
'Handmade Irish Tiaras'
Irish
National Leader Update
October, 1999
Featured small enterprise-
'Tiaras fit for Brides'
Ireland's
national weekly
Farmer's
Jounal, January, 2000
'Selling Tiaras to Hollywood Hills'
The Traditional Irish Wedding
We're pleased to be
included among many fine resources in this book written by
Bridget Haggerty
Irish
Wedding Magazine
Summer/Autumn issue, 2000
News Section- 'Crowning Glory'
Galway
Rural Deveopment
Annual Report
Colleen
Collections selected as the featured small enterprise for
1999.
Irish Wedding Magazine
Autumn/Winter issue, 2000
featured in 'Spotlight' news section
The Wire Artist Magazine
(Ontario, Canada)
January,
2001
'Tiaras Reign Supreme' features designs by Colleen Collections
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