Lee Valley has designed and made high quality clothing in the village of Inchigeela in West Cork since 1986. Denis Hurley saw a market for a traditional Irish grandfather shirt and began drafting patterns and cutting fabric at home, before calling on the sewing skills of local women who worked from their own homes.
Selling his shirts in the local fairs and markets in Bantry, Kenmare and Killarney to both farmers and tourists, Denis soon realised there would be a strong export market for his Irish flannel products. Denis had fond memories of his own grandfather wearing this type of collarless shirt in days gone by, and quickly set about re-kindling this traditional garment.
In 1986, Denis renovated the old creamery in Inchigeela. In bygone days this was where local farmers gathered, pasteurised their cow’s milk, made cheese and butter which were then sold on to the butter market in Cork.

Denis started to design and cut his flannel grandfather shirts and with the help of the local outworkers and from this old creamery Lee Valley Ireland was born. Today, Lee Valley continues to operate from the village of Inchigeela and have added on to their facilities an outlet store which attracts a large amount of tourists.