‘I'm learning Irish, I wear Beir Bua': The brand combining Gaeilge, GAA, and fashion
The brand has gone from strength to strength since it burst onto the Irish fashion scene, having recently launched a retro GAA jersey in collaboration with Beamish.
Advertisement
Speaking to
BreakingNews.ie
, founder Tony Connolly said he previously saw nothing linking his interests together, and felt that he had no "niche" of his own.
'I always felt like I had no niche. I was into a lot of things. I was into sport, I was into jerseys, I was into fashion.
"I was into art, photography, music, and the Irish language. But I kind of didn't have a niche in any area and, at some point, it just clicked with me that I could combine them all into one.'
Beir Bua seeks to champion the Irish language through clothing, while also celebrating Irish culture in a broader sense by drawing inspiration from GAA jerseys for its pieces.
Advertisement
'What you see in Beir Bua is really just an amalgamation of everything I'm into and there's nothing there that isn't authentic," Connolly said.
Photo: Beir Bua
"Even to do with the photography stuff, it's all at places where we drank or went to, or where I played hurling. It's all kind of semi-reflective of my life because I know there's a lot of poserism in some form in this kind of area.
'Even when it comes to the Irish language, like there's mistakes in some of the Irish I use and I want that to reflect and show that it's okay to make mistakes.
"It's about the journey of relearning Irish. Rather than being like 'I'm an Irish speaker, I wear Beir Bua', it's more like 'I'm learning Irish, I wear Beir Bua'.'
Advertisement
The birth of Beir Bua
Connolly explained that the concept of Beir Bua came about as a result of him learning the Irish language.
"I suppose it started when I started learning Irish around 2018. I started going back to Irish classes in Belfast, I was doing night classes at the time. I was just getting really into the Irish language and I saw there was a brand, Art of Football, over in England who were doing a lot of stuff with football culture and clothing at the time.
"I think something just clicked in my head with the ability to combine the Irish language and promoting the Irish language with clothing. This came a few years after I'd really started learning.
"Beir Bua was picked for the brand name because it's a sign off message and so you put it at the end of a letter or an e-mail.
Advertisement
"It's actually old Irish. 'Beir bua agus beannacht' is the full phrase, which means take victory and a blessing. 'Take victory' - I just always liked the way it sounded and looked, and putting it at the end of an e-mail. I just thought it was perfect.
I was just getting inspired by a lot of Irish culture at the time. And I sort of had the idea to have the Irish language, the promotion of Irish language, really been the forefront of what Beir Bua was supposed to be about.
'There's a massive wave of Celtic revivalism at the minute going on, which has kind of been bubbling under the surface, probably for the last seven years maybe.
"There have been lots of people that came before me, so I don't see myself in any way as like super original or anything like that. There was already lots of stuff being done with the Irish language and, to me, the Irish language has always been cool.
"But the Celtic revival, it has kind of allowed me to get a full breakthrough, which is just lucky for me. So yeah, I definitely stand on the shoulders of some people who came before."
Advertisement
Kneecap, Gaeilge, and plans for the future
Connolly said the goal of the brand is to get more people into speaking and learning the Irish language.
"As I said, I always thought the Irish language was cool, but there's young people who, maybe to do with the way it's taught to them at school, aren't fully interested in Irish language.
"You obviously have this Celtic wave that's kind of helping them decide that it's something that they want to be into and that's something I want to do too. Maybe to show that part of it, even though I feel like it's always been something that was cool."
The Beir Bua founder said Kneecap cannot be left out of the Celtic revival conversation, as they inspired the younger generation to take an interest in the Irish language through their music.
'You can't mention the Celtic revival without mentioning Kneecap. They've been utterly instrumental in all of this, and I'd be lying if I said they didn't inspire me to push ahead with this plan as well.
"As well as Kneecap and the movie industry and the music industry, you know, you have bands like Fontaines incorporating Irish language into some of their stuff as well but, apart from that, there was a whole wave of people before that that sort of brought the momentum into the culture.
"You had An Dream Dearg champion Irish language rights in the North and I think all the hard work from groups like that and grassroots organisations have helped hold that up. Maybe people aren't really seeing that. But they allowed these things to come up through the culture and into the mainstream."
Speaking about the future, Connolly said he intends to keep making garments that people are interested in wearing, and is open to more collaborations after the brand's successful partnership with Beamish.
Photo: Beir Bua
"Honestly, my plan is to keep making cool stuff. My mantra is to just keep making stuff that you would wear, stuff that you would like.
I'm massively inspired by retro GAA jerseys and things like that, and I use my own taste to judge whether or not a design is something I would want to wear something myself.
"We've actually done a collab with Beamish there recently which was our first collab. It was huge for us. In terms of other collabs, I'm listening to anyone who's talking basically. But, I suppose an obvious answer would be someone like Kneecap.
"The two brands, the two entities, you could say, would be a good fit together I think, especially both being from the North as well. I just think it would be great, but who knows."
Small business struggles
Connolly highlighted some of the difficulties that come with running a small business, namely the balancing act of business costs and the cost of clothes for customers.
'It can be hard because it's a one man business here. So, I'm basically working on my own. And so it can be hard. Obviously, everyone has to start out somewhere," he said.
"We're getting to the point now where we might be able to take on more, but the challenge at the minute is really just the financial struggles of running a tiny business, especially in modern day Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The cost of living has gone up massively, and some of the pieces can be expensive to get made, and you don't want to charge through-the-roof prices for people who can't afford it.
Connolly said it can be hard to find the right balance between making something that's worthwhile while ensuring that it's affordable for people, specifically Beir Bua's target demographic of 20- and 30-somethings.
'I don't come from money. I didn't get any leg up with this. It is just something I started very, very small and I was at a full-time job at the same time.
"It's just about trying to grow bit by bit by bit with baby steps and, at some point, I suppose I'm just hoping that it will be a self-sustaining business."
Beir Bua is a brand to keep an eye on. The brand has already come on leaps and bounds since it started out, and there will undoubtedly be more to come in the future.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
35 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez jet back to Europe just weeks after tying the knot in extravagant wedding
Jeff Bezos and his wife Lauren Sanchez were spotted back in Europe after jetting around the world following their wedding. Just weeks after tying the knot in Venice, the billionaire Amazon founder, 61, and his now-wife were pictured touching down in the South of France again. The pair traveled to France at least twice this year as there were public sightings of the couple in Cannes following her bachelorette party in Paris back in May. Bezos also attended the amfAR Gala in Cap d'Antibes during that trip. This month, after celebrating their nuptials with a number of A-list Hollywood stars, they headed to Paris Fashion Week, where the former journalist, 55, attended the Balenciaga Haute Couture show. The pair were pictured arriving, making the dock their personal runway as they strutted towards the extravagant Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in Cap d'Antibes. Sanchez put on a glamorous display as she modeled a colorful, silk dress with mixed patterns, neon colors and a sexy, low back design. She paired the eye-catching dress with baby blue sandal heels and a white and blue mini purse from Dior as she joined her husband for their European excursion. The pair were spotted holding hands as they exited their luxurious yacht. This comes after the famous couple said 'I do' in the romantic city of Venice back in June. Their $50 million wedding had a star-studded guest list with many A-listers such as Oprah Winfrey, Orlando Bloom, Tom Brady, Kim Kardashian and Leonardo DiCaprio in attendance. Now Sanchez wears a $5 million diamond wedding ring that has fans as well as jewelers in an uproar.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Oleksandr Usyk moves up to the podium in JEFF POWELL's top 12 heavyweights of all-time after his demolition of Daniel Dubois
There can no longer be any disputing that Oleksandr Usyk is one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. That benediction has been delivered unto him not by the brotherhood of the ring, not by we the critics, but by the people.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Smart, sharp and nonstop dance: how Twyla Tharp is bossing the Venice Dance Biennale in her 80s
'Do you know how much I could deadlift in my 50s? Guess!' Twyla Tharp implored Wayne McGregor, in a post-show interview at the Venice Dance Biennale. McGregor, the festival's artistic director, didn't dare venture a figure. 'Two-hundred and twenty-seven pounds!' she told us all, delightedly. Never underestimate Twyla. The slight, white-haired 84-year-old is as sharp as ever, and a force in the dance world. She's been choreographing for 60 years, for ballet companies and Broadway, dance both experimental and accessible, art and pop. And she is honoured this year with the biennale's Golden Lion for lifetime achievement. Tharp is a smart, no-nonsense woman with a dry sense of humour, and her work is much the same. Only two pieces from her vast repertoire are staged in Venice this year, but one especially, Diabelli (from 1998), set to Beethoven's 33 Diabelli Variations, has the same precise, self-certain manner as the woman herself. It takes one idea – the rigorous exploration of music and form – and drills into it determinedly. The dance is non-stop, a showcase for the tremendous dancers of her company, all quite different bodies but brilliant technicians, rooted in classicism with Tharp's easy synthesis of jazz, contemporary and vernacular dance forms. It is absolutely chock-full of steps. That might seem obvious, but a lot of contemporary dance now hinges on vibe, mood and repetitive riffs, whereas Tharp is just step after step, finely and deliberately wrought phrases in constant motion with absolute clarity. With its fairly unwavering tone, from the audience there's perhaps not as much light and shade as Tharp herself sees – but she has no time for dawdling (there's a similarity with McGregor's own work here: the constant fast-paced flying mind, expecting you to keep up). The second piece is the European premiere of Slacktide, set to Philip Glass. It's new, but interestingly, uses material from Tharp's back catalogue, reversioned. Compared with Diabelli, the look is certainly more 'now', diffused light, dancers in black shorts and vests, and rather than the front-facing performance mode of the earlier work, the dancers are on their own trajectories, moving between solos and groups. It has a greater sense of freedom, dynamic and edge, but the same very serious conversation with choreography. The winner of the Silver Lion, for an outstanding upcoming choreographer, was the Brazilian Carolina Bianchi. Bianchi has the same absolute commitment to her art as Tharp, but is a completely different proposition. She's best known for the first part of her Cadela Força trilogy, The Bride and the Goodnight Cinderella, in which Bianchi takes a date rape drug live on stage and then attempts to continue the show while the audience watch its effects take over, made in response to her own experience of sexual assault. The second chapter of the trilogy, The Brotherhood, gets its Italian premiere in Venice and it goes deeper (very much deeper, at almost four hours in length) into Bianchi's own attempts to process what happened to her: the injustice, the omnipresent patriarchy, the bewilderment over what gives men seeming licence to abuse women, from the rape of Lucretia to Gisèle Pelicot. She does this through film, performance, a faux interview with a famous theatre director, set-pieces with the male performers from company Cara de Cavalo, and addressing the audience directly. She considers hazing initiations, the myth of the troubled genius in art, the politics of the rehearsal room, the subtle undermining of women in professional life. There's so much here, a bit of editing wouldn't go amiss (although it doesn't feel like 220 minutes) but then this is the ever-circling mind after trauma, always returning to the wound, never finding the answer. Fearless Bianchi is sometimes provocatively shocking, she is also constantly questioning herself, getting in her criticisms before anyone else can. Her subjects are theatre, art, violence and anger. And the real question may be, why aren't we all angrier, all the time, about how commonplace this abuse is? Bianchi introduces herself on stage as predominantly a writer, and this is a text-based show within the realm of performance art, an interesting choice for a dance prize. But the body is absolutely at the centre of her work. Her central question, as she puts it, is what do we do with this body? How to live in a body that survives rape? Elsewhere at the biennale, the opening show comes from Australia's Chunky Move, a company established in 1995, now led by Antony Hamilton, who has choreographed U>N>I>T>E>D. The stage is dominated by a large mechanical contraption, a piece of rigging that holds what looks like a giant insect with flashing and glowing lights. The dancers have mechanical limbs too, multijointed insect-y legs attached to them, turning them into human-machine hybrid hexapods. It immediately brought to mind a piece McGregor made for his company in 2002, Nemesis, where the dancers wore mechanical limbs extending their arms. In fact the whole look is very millennium-bug-throwback, like a guerrilla army of hackers who've jumped the fence at Glastonbury, in baggy parachute pants with all sorts of straps and layers and clashing patterns and camo and reflective neon. It's a crusty-cyberpunk look – if you ever went near Brighton in the 1990s, you'd recognise it. Except that in the 90s we barely had mobile phones or email addresses and this kind of tech felt like pure sci-fi, whereas now, the idea of humans getting tech implants or machines becoming sentient is basically the world we live in. So that's unnerving. But what does Hamilton have to say about it? Not so much. The thing about all the cumbersome props is that they extend the body's possibilities, but also reduce their ability to move. There's a vague sense of struggle between embracing or fighting the machines but, just like in the real world, having the technology is one thing, deciding what to use it for, or what you want to say with it, is entirely another. It's neither stirringly hopeful nor apocalyptic enough to be terrifying. Twyla would have those mechanical critters for breakfast. The Venice Dance Biennale continues until 2 August
