From film to fragrances: The Cloon Keen Atelier story

Margaret Mangan knows how to follow her nose.

Born in Newfoundland to Irish parents, she worked as an accountant in the film industry and as a financial controller for an advertising agency, before moving to Galway with her husband Julian in the early millennium.

In Galway, the couple opened Cloon Keen Atelier, a perfumery and candle making business which takes its name from a family home and a townland her father loved.

With their products finding their way into the hands of U2, Michelle Obama and even to the Holy See, the move has certainly been fruitful.

Speaking about their transition into the world of candle-making, Margaret said:

“I read an article in Globe and Mail magazine around 1991 about the candle industry and how easy it was to get into, especially for people like Jules and I with little to no manufacturing experience.

“Ten years later, I was telling my husband ‘I think we should get into candle making,’” she added, with a laugh.

Margaret and Julian first made a small batch of candles in their house in the English town of Windsor to sell at their local market. These products sold out within a day, further inspiring them to delve into the industry.

Cloon Keen’s origins

Soon after moving to Galway in March 2001, the couple decided to “test the [Irish] market at a candle party in a friend’s house”.

According to Margaret, the support for Irish businesses, especially for those manufacturing their own products, has been incredible.

After spending some time manufacturing and selling candles, Margaret gained an interest in perfumery, fascinated by its mix of disciplines.

“There’s an artistic and creative side to perfumery, but there’s also the chemistry side: I had to learn over three thousand materials,” she explained.

She read Luca Turin and Tania Sanchez’s Perfumes: The Guide in 2008 and decided to learn the craft.

“I decided to train my nose, you know, so I went out and bought a sample of each perfume in the book.

“I tested them to see if I could smell the quality of the ingredients and that sort of thing. The book has a five-star rating system, from bearable to masterpiece,” she said.

Awards

Ten years later, when Perfumes: The Guide 2018 was released, Margaret found Cloon Keen Atelier among its pages: Turin and Sanchez rated their perfume Castaña as a five-star masterpiece.

She categorises this as her career’s defining achievement, atop the many awards she has received for her work to date:

Cloon Keen Atelier was the first Irish company to win the Best New Independent Fragrance award for their perfume Róisín Dubh, at Fragrance Foundation awards in 2019, which Margaret has likened to “the Oscars for perfume”.

To create it, Cloon Keen enlisted the assistance of Meabh McCurtin, one of the world’s best perfumers, who also hails from Galway. McCurtin studied chemistry at the University of Galway and now lives in Paris.

That same year, the Cloon Keen Atelier shop on High Street in Galway was named ‘Best Specialist Shop’ in the Irish Times’ 2019 Best Shop Awards.

Initially, Cloon Keen Atelier packaged their scented candles in humble metal tins, however in time, Julian began to use the skills acquired in his previous working life in the film industry, to elevate the designs of the containers.

With years of experience in special effects, costumes and prop-making, Julian was able to redeploy his expertise into producing the exquisite receptacles Cloon Keen Atelier now offers to customers.

While the products can be considered things of beauty in themselves, Margaret and Julian are also very environmentally conscious and keep this in mind throughout the production process.

As a result, all the perfume bottles and candle glasses are designed to be reusable, with eco-friendly refills made readily available.

Despite the dramatic change in career from finance to perfumery and candle-making, Margaret said that it was not a difficult adjustment.

She described a career in the film industry as “precarious”, adding that a lack of opportunities in the early 2000s partially inspired her move.

However, her previous occupation has been relevant to her new one: “One thing that I’ve learned is that things that you think have no relevance become most valuable in later life,” she explained.

Margaret affirmed her extensive career in the film industry, from accounting to being an art department coordinator and a location manager, was crucial in teaching her an invaluable skill: thinking on her feet.

She studied public relations at a postgraduate level, which she has also said has been vital to running a business.

Currently, Margaret and Julian are busy renovating their workshop in Spiddal, Co Galway for the upcoming Christmas period.

Christmas is Cloon Keen Atelier’s busiest season and delivering enough stock has proved to be the biggest challenge for the business.

The entrepreneur strives to deliver the same level of service as that which her customers expect from Cloon Keen at other less hectic times of the year.

The couple are looking forward to a busy 2026, as Cloon Keen Atelier will be launching new perfumes, candles and diffusers.

They are also making another surprising move into leather goods manufacturing, which should be available next spring.

“Perfume is very ephemeral, I wanted to make more concrete products,” she jokes.

If you’re looking for something unique and Irish-made to gift this Christmas season, Cloon Keen Atelier is the perfect place to find it.

Their products are available in their shop in High Street, Galway and on William Street, Dublin, and on their website: cloonkeen.com.