Founded in 1976 by Tarlach and Áine de Blacam, the Inis Meáin Knitting Company has spent nearly fifty years transforming the island's traditional craft into an internationally recognized luxury brand. The company employs most of the working-age population of the island, which is not nothing when the total population is around 200 people.
The factory shop sells the full range — aran sweaters, cardigans, waistcoats — in the natural undyed wool and in the subtle vegetable-dyed colors that have become the company's signature. Prices are substantially lower than the stockists in Dublin, London, or Tokyo, and the pieces are made a few hundred metres from where you're standing. If you're going to buy an Aran sweater, this is the place to do it.