The Holden story

At Holden Leathergood's we pride ourselves on our uncompromising commitment to quality and design which have earned us an international reputation and clientele, with customers returning year after year to seek out new designs and leathers.

Today, we are one of the longest established leather goods brand both designed and made in Ireland – celebrating over 30 years of craftsmanship in Dingle! 

Founder -Conor Holden 

"Born and bred in Dublin, I started my working life as a trainee hotel manager, at the age of 17. I moved to London at 19 and worked in local government. A course at Cordwainers College (now part of London College of Fashion) in Leathergoods Design and Production caught my eye: this was the beginning of my journey back home, and the beginning of Holden Leathergoods, which I set up in 1989.

Now I work alongside my wife Claire and a small workshop team trained here by me.Most of our bag designs are collaborations between myself and Claire. We set aside some time to work through new ideas and prototype them, usually when we receive the samples of new leathers we’ve selected from our tanneries in Italy and are buzzing with inspiration and creativity! It’s one of the aspects of my job that I most enjoy."  

The Workshop

Visitors are encouraged to call out to the workshop and studio shop for a truly unique experience. Well signposted off the Slea Head drive on the Wild Atlantic Way, approximately 3km from Dingle, the workshop is open all year.          

A holiday in Dingle in 1988,  ultimately lead Conor to setting up the workshop in this beautiful and inspiring location.

The Dingle Peninsula is not only breathtakingly beautiful, it’s steeped in history, and encompasses so much about being Irish: it has a spiritual draw which continues to this day to attract and inspire creativity in writers, musicians, poets, philosophers, dancers, artists and artisans.