Guest Author - Mary Ellen Sweeney

She wears a red shawl and a green skirt. She carries a creel of turf. She has golden hair and rosy porcelain cheeks. Her name is Kathleen. Her eyes still blink. She’s kept the same curls since the day she came out of a suitcase from Ireland. She has lived these past 40 years unmolested in the dining room cupboard. It’s a miracle.

Crolly Dolls is a doll factory that was established in 1936 in Crolly, County Donegal, Ireland. Using their own porcelain slip and the finest clays and ingredients, Crolly Dolls keeps to the same attention to detail and level of excellence that made the very first Crolly Doll.

Hand-knit woolens, hand-woven Donegal tweeds and linens dress the Crolly Dolls. Each outfit is a work of art. Each piece created is looked upon as their very first and maintains the level of excellence for which Crolly Dolls is well known.

In Gaelic, Aoife means beautiful and indeed this doll is lovely. She’s a tidy girl in baínín sweater and skirt, her curls barely contained by green ribbons. She is 15 inches tall. Beautiful! From Ireland.


Aoife Crolly Doll