Our story in Irish craft and design

Bernadine Egan, the founder of and principal artist behind Maysonbrook, is an artist, designer and teacher. She holds a degree in Fine Art from GMIT, Galway, Ireland (2004), where her work received the Graduate of the Year award. She also has a higher diploma in Art & Design Education from LIT’s Limerick School of Art & Design (2005).

Using her fine art background, Bernadine has found her own way to produce exceptional Irish Craft and Design products.

Bernadine lives in Cong in Co. Mayo since 2017. Cong is a picturesque area of historic and natural beauty where Bernadine draws her inspiration from. Her house combines a studio and a gift shop overlooking the Quiet Man museum and Cong’s 12th century Abbey. Her strolls along Cong river leading to the beautiful grounds of Ashford Castle are a constant influence on her work.

Our philosophy

Our Irish Craft and Design products aren’t objects to be bought, hung on a wall and forgotten about. Like the oak tree, they are living memory makers, designed to be added to, passed on and handed down. Inspired by the same timeless origins of nature, they’re a way to embrace and illustrate the memories of a moment – a birth, a marriage, a celebration – while creating an heirloom that will allow memories to be cherished and enjoyed for generations to come.

Our Irish craft and design products

Bernadine had seen and liked the concept of fingerprint trees before but felt the need to reimagine them in an elegant, Irish and hand-crafted take – and so Maysonbrook was born.

This video explains more about Maysonbrook Friends & Family trees, and you can take a look through the collection here. We hope you find the perfect tree for your memories!

Her artistic ethos is about the connections that people make with her Irish Craft and Design works and how fewer but better things can make a difference into the homes of her customers by not buying single objects but going through the experience of choosing and connecting to the products.

She would like to view her works as multi-layered objects of aesthetic beauty and emotional connection.