Luxury candle brands such as Diptyque, Kenneth Turner and Jo Malone might have their followers but more discerning noses go west. The small but perfectly formed Cloon Keen Atelier is on Kirwan's Lane in the heart of Galway city. Everything for sale here, whether for the body or the home, is handmade, based on pure, high-quality ingredients and presented in the chicest of packaging.

Margaret Mangan and Julian Checkley are the husband-and-wife team behind the operation. Mangan, whose parents are from Galway, was born in Canada. She met Checkley, who is originally from Windsor in the UK, while they were both working in film. They had been living in Britain, but the long-term goal was always to relocate to Galway. "He makes the candles, I sell them," Mangan says of their working dynamic.

The couple started Cloon Keen (it's named after the area in Tuam where Mangan's father is from) in 2002 and opened the Kirwan Lane shop in 2005. Fragranced candles are a niche business for sure but Mangan says they've never wanted to become a typical high-street shop. "When I was growing up, you'd read about some little shop in a magazine and if you went there – like Paris – you'd try and check it out. We wanted a shop like that, one that you can't get everywhere because it takes away the specialness of the product." And the products are pretty special. There are three candle ranges – the Gourmet, which includes Basil and Lime Pesto, as well as Irish Soda Bread (which really does smell like bread); the sophisticated Spa Range, with offerings like Fig Tree and Blackcurrant Leaf; and the most recent introduction, the 191 range, which includes a body lotion and soap.

A new range of six candles and another body-care range (based on the vanilla-esque tonka bean) are planned for later this year. Mangan says that one of the benefits of being a smallish business is that they can launch things quite quickly. The candles start at €14.95, and Mangan, who is a trained perfumier, says: "Our philosophy is to be the best quality, and luxurious, but we never wanted to be priced prohibitively. We want to always make it accessible."

cloon keen atelier

3 Kirwan's Lane, Galway

Tel: 091 565 736

www.cloonkeenatelier.com