Our Story

Share Memories, Share Ireland.

SIAR Photography, meaning “West” or Westward” in Irish, is a range of contemporary photography of Ireland founded in 2019 by husband and wife team, Gary Collins and Aoife Lenihan.

SIAR Photography arises from looking at the Irish landscape and culture in a unique way, with a local perspective, portraying the environment, Irish culture and heritage along with landscape photographic shots. 

SIAR Photography offers original photographs by Gary, with each photo printed, packaged and sold from our studio in County Clare on the Wild Atlantic Way. 

We also offer greeting cards, notebooks, postcards, annual calendars and collaborated with a local candle producer to create our candle Trá, a scent inspired by the Irish beach and coastline. Our SIAR Gift Sets bundle a number of our products to help with gift shopping. 

Our mission is to be "of Ireland and by Ireland" - we’re passionate to share both our photographic perspective of Ireland and present high-quality, unique and affordable products made in Ireland. (More on our prints & product specifications below) 

SIAR Photography prints and products are available to buy here from our ecommerce website, direct via market pop-ups, and via our retail partners: a number of online retailers, independent shops in Ireland and the USA. We sell and ship in Ireland and worldwide.

How to pronounce SIAR: "sheer", or to hear it spoken, click here: SIAR

Awards

2019 | Finalist, Clare Round - Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur, Best Business Idea 

2020 | Finalist, Clare Final - National Enterprise Awards

2021 | Finalist, Home category - Irish Made Awards

2022 | Shortlisted, 'The Edit' Showcase Awards - Showcase Ireland

2022 | Emerging Businesswomen, Network Ireland Limerick Businesswomen of the Year Awards

2022 | Finalist, Home category - Irish Made Awards

2024 | Finalist, Home category - Irish Made Awards 

  

  

 

Our Prints

All prints are original photographs captured by Gary Collins. 

SIAR Photography prints are presented in a contemporary, poster-like finish. We use a textured 250gsm matt paper and archival inks to bring the colours and textures of the photos as true to eye as possible. We also use modern border styles and our prints are not mounted to achieve a contemporary presentation. These print choices give SIAR Photography prints a distinct, unique look.

Each print is titled by hand, with the story behind SIAR included with each. All our prints are printed, packaged, framed and put in the post by Aoife and Gary, with help from Rua, the office cat. 

 

Of Ireland & By Ireland

Being Irish made is central to SIAR Photography as we present our photographic perspective of Ireland. 

All our photography prints are printed, packaged and framed by us in our workshop in Ennis, Co. Clare. 

The frames we use are made by a supplier in West Cork who hand finishes each frame. The print paper and packaging material used, all environmentally sustainable, are sourced from suppliers in Dublin. Accompanying each print, our point-of-sale materials, were developed with our designer in Tipperary and are printed locally.

Our calendar, postcards and greeting cards are all designed by us, printed by printers in Ireland, and our candle is handpoured in Ennis. 

 

Sustainability

SIAR is focused on becoming a sustainable business. The inspiration for our products comes from the beauty of the environment we find ourselves in and we aim to play our part in protecting that. Here are a few of the steps we have taken to be environmentally conscious: 

• Both our print paper and wood profile frames are sourced from sustainably farmed FSC certified trees.
• The backing boards that accompany our unframed prints are fully recyclable and our protective sleeves are corn based plastic and 100% compostable.
• The majority of our packaging for postage is recyclable: including our packing tape, postage boxes and POS cards. 
• We engage with An Post for delivery, who have given commitments to zero-carbon emission delivery within Ireland.
• Our annual wall calendars are printed on recycled uncoated paper.
• We source our production and point of sale materials from within Ireland to minimise our carbon emissions footprint.

We look forward to continuing our sustainability journey as we develop as a business. 

 

Meet SIAR: Gary 

Gary Collins is a photographer based in Ennis, County Clare.

Gary's photography story began thanks to his career as a world-champion and professional Irish dancer, touring the world with Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance. Dancing shoes on and camera in hand he began documenting the landscapes and cultures of his travels. On returning to Ireland he trained and worked as an Accountant, working both in local practice and the international entertainment industry before founding Gary Collins Photography in 2014.

Gary co-founded SIAR Photography in 2019, with his now wife Aoife, to continue his passion for photographing Ireland. 

Connect with Gary: Gary's LinkedIn

 

Meet SIAR: Aoife