Why else do you think the 20th century is rehashed time and time again: its furniture, advertising, packaging, music, and fashion? Nothing better has come along. It just leaves us to lay claim to whichever little bit of it we find attractive: the mini (dress and car); Doc Martens; the Charles Eames' lounger; the Beatles.

Everyone has had a slice of it, particularly the Danes whose furniture design has a cachet all its own: Hans Wegner's daybed; Korod Larsenfor's sideboard; Arne Jacobsen's egg chair; Alvar Aalto's cantilever armchair . . . all of which versions are continuously in demand and reproduced for contemporary living.

But some design eras are in danger of being forgotten, particularly that stage between 1963 and 1983 when those very same Danes were influential in design in Ireland. Based in Kilkenny and with some help from the Norwegians, Finns and the Irish themselves they were part of a flourishing design empire.

It was all down to William Walsh (then head of Coras Trachtala, the Irish export board) who went to Norway to see the privately run workshops in Frederikstad, and returned with the concept that turned the stables at Kilkenny Castle into the Kilkenny Design Workshops.

One of the first designs produced was the double KK logo created by Louis Le Brocquy . . . when it is turned on its side it reads KDW.

In the two and a half decades that KDW thrived, the apartments and homes of the Irish, particularly those of young professionals and students, were decked out with the now unique items that came from the workshops, right down to designs for functional items such as rubbish bins and tea towels.

Especially notable were the beech chairs with the hammock style seating in linen upholstery by Gustav Sauter and Holger Strom's IQ light shades, which are still being produced and were part of the Great Danes exhibition in Habitat in Dublin in 2003 . . .

they come in kits made up of interlocking plastic pieces which, when put together, miraculously turn into wonderful shade shapes.

Holger Strom, now back in his native Denmark, still churns them out . . . they currently sell at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and are included in the book 1,000 Best Lights.

And while the shades go on, the chairs are no longer made and are now collectors' items if you can find them . . . I had one until the upholstery fell apart from use and abuse and I threw it out, not having the wit to replace it.

Joanna Quinn, who has curated an exhibition of the designs of that era, did so because she says information about the work is beginning to disappear.

"When the workshops closed down many of the manufacturers went out of business, designers went home, and many of the prototypes ended up in skips.

The workshops closed down over a period of a year. It was an untidy ending. Since the KDW products were commonly seen around the country, they were taken for granted and no-one thought of saving the prototypes."

Much of the design from that era is now unique and rare, especially pieces by sculptor Oisin Kelly, who was artist-in-residence at KDW until his death in 1981.

A plaque of the four apostles and other religious work carried out during that period is now rare. His apostle designs are sought-after, particularly the prototypes he made from the clay at the clay factory in The Swan in County Kilkenny.

The painter Patrick Scott was a member of the Standards panel and undertook designs such as the rainbow rug which was hand tufted by the V'Soske Joyce company in Oughterard and produced in limited editions.

The two Kilkenny Design shops, one in Kilkenny and the other in Dublin (still with the Kilkenny logo but long sold off to private individuals), were great showcases for the KDW designers as well as for other designers who set up around the countryside: Simon Pearse glassware and pottery by Nicholas Moss are still stocked in the Kilkenny and other craft shops.

Why did such a vibrant enterprise wane? Joanna Quinn says one reason is that KDW got into financial difficulties through opening a shop in London . . . it was the '80s recession and there was no back-up funding available."

The more important reason is that the workshops had done their job . . . they had accomplished what they set out to do, which was to introduce good design to Ireland.

Many of today's contemporary designers spent stints at Kilkenny Design Workshops.

And while the workshops are gone and the shops and clay factory are now under new management, their influence lives on. Their work can be seen in a Crafts Council of Ireland KDW retrospective exhibition 'Designing Ireland 1963-1988' at the National Craft Gallery, Kilkenny, from 4 February to 2 April.