David Condon Finds

Ireland is not always easy to explain from the outside. Some parts are obvious: the scenery, the music, the history, the pubs, the weather, the humour and the endless ability to turn a simple conversation into a story. Other parts are harder to pin down. Why do Irish people ask “what’s the craic?” as if that is a completely normal thing to say? Why did so many of us spend years learning Irish in school and still feel awkward trying to speak it? Why does the 1990s still feel like such a special time in modern Irish memory? And what does it actually mean to be Irish today, when the country has changed so much but still holds on to so many older habits, jokes, contradictions and traditions? This page gathers together some of my Irish posts in one place. Some are light-hearted. Some are nostalgic. Some are more reflective. All of them come from my own experience of living in Ireland and looking at the small things that shape Irish life. A generated image but it gets my points across. Irela...

Craft supplies can be one of those things you do not think about until you suddenly need them. A bit of ribbon for a gift. A ready-made bow for a hamper. Wedding ribbon for invitations or favours. Stickers for Christmas crafts. Something small to finish a package properly without having to order from three different places or wait weeks for delivery. That is one of the reasons I started writing more about craft supplies on David Condon Finds. Image created for this post to represent the kind of ribbon, bows, stickers and craft supplies I write about. The actual products I sell are carefully selected, good-quality supplies that I would be happy to use myself. Why I Now Supply Craft Products I'm a woodturner by trade, which might seem like an odd starting point for posts about ribbon, bows and craft supplies. But through my main business, David Condon Woodcraft, I also stock a growing range of practical craft items. Over time, I found myself answering the same kinds of questions agai...

Most people think bows are just the final little decoration on a gift. In reality, they can change the whole look of the finished item. A plain box with a neat bow can suddenly look thoughtful, polished, and properly presented. A lovely handmade gift with a messy bow can look rushed, even if the gift itself is beautiful. That is the awkward truth of gift presentation. The small finishing touches often carry more weight than we realise. If you are wrapping one gift at home, tying your own bow might be perfectly fine. But if you are preparing several gifts, hampers, party favours, teacher presents, wedding favours, or handmade products for sale, ready-made bows start to make a lot more sense. So which is better? As usual, the answer depends on what you are doing. Who Am I to Talk About Bows and Gift Presentation? I’m not coming at this as someone who just looked up a few gift wrapping tips online. I’m a crafter, I run my own small craft business, and I started selling craft suppl...

There are few things funnier than watching the face of an American visitor the first time an Irish person casually asks: “What’s the craic?” You can nearly see the panic arrive in stages. First, confusion. Then concern. Then the silent question behind the eyes: What kind of country have I landed in? Relax. Nobody is offering you anything illegal. Nobody is asking where to buy anything suspicious. And no, your friendly Irish host has not just turned into a character from a crime drama. This post actually came about while I was working on my local guide to Tralee . That is the funny thing about writing local Irish posts: one idea often leads to another.  You start thinking about visitors, pubs, conversations and the little things people notice when they come to Ireland, and suddenly you remember that we casually use a word that can make an American visitor look genuinely alarmed. What Does “Craic” Mean in Ireland? No, It Does Not Mean That In Ireland, craic means fun, chat, news,...