With Christmas just around the corner, now is the time to find the most fabulously queer gifts for all the LGBTQ+ humans in your life. There’s no need to worry about brainstorming ideas because we’ve curated a gift guide full of local merch from queer creators in Ireland.
In Rainbow – badges, apparel and prints
Alli McKee is an artist and small business owner from County Down in Northern Ireland. His queer-owned Irish small business sells handmade custom badges, pins, prints, jewellery, beanies, advent calendars and stickers. His work centres around queer Pride and the celebration of identity, and every sale from his shop, In Rainbows, helps fund his medical transition!
View this post on Instagram
KIKI – jewellery
KIKI offers a wide range of stunning handmade jewellery and the best thing about these queer Christmas gifts is that no two pieces are alike. Kiki says the jewellery includes designs, “ranging from musical icons such as Bowie, artists such as Frida Kahlo, political figures, writers, actors…” and more! There’s something for everyone, and really, who wouldn’t want a RuPaul-inspired necklace?
View this post on Instagram
Ciara Purdy Pictures – embroidery
If there’s anyone on your list who would appreciate displaying some profanity in their home, Ciara Purdy Pictures has exactly what they need. Ciara offers plates, frames and embroidery in a variety of creative and fun designs. Go check them out!
View this post on Instagram
Weird Watercolours – prints and holiday cards
You can’t miss these incredible Christmas cards from Weird Watercolours. Abi and Audrey are partners in love who own a card printing company with designs, “heavily influenced by memes culture and queerness, with a twist of Irish nostalgia.” Doesn’t that sound like the ultimate Christmas gift?
View this post on Instagram
Alec B. Design – digital art
Alec is a visual artist and student teacher based in Galway. His LGBTQ+-centred digital art can be printed on mugs, t-shirts, hoodies, phone cases, badges and aprons here.
View this post on Instagram
Selkies – prints
Selkies is from Dublin, although she’s now living in Brussels. Her work draws on intimacy, femininity, and camp. Prints of her work as well as adorable Irish-themed totes are available in her shop.
View this post on Instagram
P.Shirts – apparel
With cosy knits, fleeces and oversized jumpers, P.Shirts offers unique unisex apparel. The store is run by an Irish/Venezuelan couple who spread a message of love, tolerance, equality, friendship and union in all of their work.
View this post on Instagram
D8 Design – candles
Next up, D8DesignCo is a queer-owned business that offers a range of sustainable Irish products that would make excellent queer Christmas gifts. They are best known for their customisable and refillable soy candles which are handmade in Dublin.
View this post on Instagram
Faerly – sustainable gifts
Faerly is passionate about supporting local gift makers. The two owners, James and Eoin, live in Kildare with their chickens and their cat and they intend to help customers live simpler lives. Perfect for the sustainable people on your list, they avoid unnecessary chemicals and plastics in their products.
View this post on Instagram
Queer Love – anthology
This anthology of Irish LGBTQ+ fiction is a fantastic holiday read. McVeigh, the editor, said he was inspired to create this collection after spending his childhood hiding in libraries. He said, “These were pre-internet days, back when LGBTQI+ representation on TV and in film was rare. Stories about people like me weren’t always easy to find. Irish ones even harder.”
View this post on Instagram
Victoria Levin Design Collective – tattoos
Victoria ‘Vic’ Levin is a Dublin-based tattoo artist and muralist offering LGBTQ+-friendly “intuitive tattooing”. While booking an appointment for a friend or family member might be more expensive than some of the other queer Christmas gifts on our list, Vic works in a range of styles from monoline to stippling and ultra-colourful portraiture. You can book an appointment with Vic here.
View this post on Instagram
Mundo Moo – prints
The beloved illustrator behind Mundo Moo, Daniel Mooney’s illustrative talents are not bound solely by his famous prints. His illustrative work is intertwined throughout Mundomoo’s shop, manifesting as, of course, prints, but also as clothing, totes, stickers, key rings and even a potential jewellery line.
View this post on Instagram
House of Dapper – Pride merch
Dedicated to a personalised twist on conventional Pride merch, Dublin-based creatives Vicky Barron and Sonya Mulligan create their community work through House of Dapper. Featured as one of the main queer creative brands in the Dublin Pride Hub, House of Dapper includes eccentric and customisable designs for masks, jewellery (custom rings, pins, and pendants), t-shirts and more.
View this post on Instagram
Lenny the Jeweller – jewellery
Based in Dublin, Lenny Coffey is an Irish designer and contemporary jewellery artist whose work has gained lots of recognition, including a Bronze Award from the Goldsmith’s Craft and Design Council UK in 2019 and a nomination for the acclaimed NCAD Staff Prize in 2020. Their business is a platform for their work that shares their “narrative style of designing where each piece tells a story”.
View this post on Instagram
Hazel Coonagh – prints
A Dublin-based artist who is very well known to GCN, Hazel Coonagh’s multifaceted work uses a “combination of disciplines with photographic portraits at its foundation”. Alongside her photography, which has been featured on several GCN print covers, Coonagh also commonly features “hand embroidery, digital editing, and mixed media” in her work.
View this post on Instagram
JANDO – prints
JANDO, an acronym for the company’s husband-and-wife founders, Julie and Owen, is a multi-award-winning printmaking studio based in Dublin. In addition to their usual offers on graphic prints of iconic Irish landmarks like Cork’s Cobh Castle, Galway’s Blackrock Diving Board, and Dublin’s Poolbeg Towers, JANDO is currently offering Christmas gifting bundles for the 2023 holiday season. To purchase prints or to learn more about JANDO’s unique Christmas offers, head over to their website.
View this post on Instagram
Eraqurio – prints
Eraquario is a Dublin-based, Brazilian street artist and print-maker specialising in LGBTQ+ printmaking. His recognisable pop-art designs have been plastered all over Dublin city, and his work was recently featured in a World AIDS Day campaign in partnership with PozVibes Podcast and Quirk Market, where the artist (alongside many of the other Irish creatives on our list) can often be found selling his prints.
View this post on Instagram
Things Lil Made – hand-knitted apparel
Operated by the fabulously talented Lilian, Things Lil Makes is based in Dublin and offers a variety of hand-knitted products such as neckties, beanies, and jumpers, many of which sport queer messaging and rainbow colour-ways. In addition to the products currently on sale on Lil’s website, customers can also commission pieces to be made using high-end products like pure Irish wool and Belgian merino wool.
View this post on Instagram
Paper Nettle Studio – jewellery and decor
Founded in 2022, Paper Nettle Studio is owned and operated by self-taught Laois artist, Leanne. While Leanne specialises in cyanotype printing, her online shop offers a variety of hand-made products including accessories, stationary, art prints, home decor, and jewellery.
View this post on Instagram
Rotten Rouge – tote bags and prints
Looking for a gift for the nature lover in your life? Check out Rotten Rouge! Owned and operated by Dublin-based painter Eibhin, Rotten Rouge offers a variety of products including hand-painted tote bags, plant pots, linocut prints and stickers of Eibhin’s original artwork.
View this post on Instagram
Uncanny Magpie – jewellery
If part of your Christmas wish list is to support local, up-and-coming artists, then look no further than the Uncanny Magpie. This Dublin-based artist is a self-taught silversmith who designs and creates custom jewellery with a macabre twist. From teeth-shaper earrings to coffin pendants, the Uncanny Magpie says: “My pieces might appeal to those who are a little kooky or into the macabre. I believe everyone should have a chance to get something they like so my prices have a wide range.”
View this post on Instagram
30,000 Kisses: Tales of Queer Love from the Ancient World – anthology
Edited by Séan Hewitt, the author of the successful queer memoir All Down Darkness Wide, this recently released anthology features a wide array of ancient and contemporary texts that highlight the fact that queer love has always been part of our world. The collection of works from the ancient world is interspersed with beautiful artwork from Luke Edward Hall, making this Christmas gift not only educational but also a beautiful piece for any queer person’s library.
View this post on Instagram
Danan Craft – candles
This small business located on Cape Clear Island, a Gaeltacht in West Cork, creates small-batch candles with a variety of homegrown scents. In addition to selling holiday scents like their ‘Nollaig’ candle, the company similarly produces a scent called ‘Bród’ or ‘Pride’ in celebration of the LGBTQ+ community. Danan Craft’s ‘Bród’ candle is scented with lemongrass and peppermint essential oils.
View this post on Instagram
Adonis Flowers Designers – flowers
This iconic flower shop located on Patrick Street in Dublin City offers beautiful and colourful bouquets and other flower arrangements that are the perfect Christmas gift for a friend, family member, or colleague. They also make beautiful Christmas wreaths to decorate your home this holiday season.
GCN – apparel and Q card
Are we a little biased? Maybe… but seriously, look at this fab collection of merch! In addition to our usual selection of fabulous designs, we also have a very limited supply of exclusive Christmas jumpers, as well queer beanies and iconic badges and t-shirts. Not only will you be best-dressed at your festive soiree, but the proceeds also allow us to keep GCN a free resource for our beloved LGBTQ+ family – everybody wins!
Also, this Christmas, treat yourself to a year-long subscription to GCN magazine and receive our exclusive Q Card! As a special thank you to our readers for their support, we’ve teamed up with businesses and organisations across Ireland to offer you exclusive subscriber discounts and offers with the new Q Card, your passport to queer Irish life. Enjoy special discounts and offers at a number of Irish businesses including Chapter’s Bookstore, The George, Pinocchio restaurant, Outhouse Café, Wagamama, the Gaiety School of Acting, and much, much more!
To receive your very own Q Card, subscribe to GCN and enjoy all the perks of being a member.
View this post on Instagram
These are just some of the amazing products on offer that you can gift your loved ones this festive season. Happy shopping and happy holidays!
© 2023 GCN (Gay Community News). All rights reserved.
Support GCN
GCN is a free, vital resource for Ireland’s LGBTQ+ community since 1988.
GCN is a trading name of National LGBT Federation CLG, a registered charity - Charity Number: 20034580.
GCN relies on the generous support of the community and allies to sustain the crucial work that we do. Producing GCN is costly, and, in an industry which has been hugely impacted by rising costs, we need your support to help sustain and grow this vital resource.
Supporting GCN for as little as €1.99 per month will help us continue our work as Ireland’s free, independent LGBTQ+ media.
comments. Please sign in to comment.