Lighting Kilkenny homes for 83 years
Willie Duggan is an Irish family business supplying lighting since 1935. Now the third generation of the family has taken the business into lighting design and consultancy. Monica Duggan describes her family history
My grandfather Willie Duggan was one of the first electrical contractors in Ireland. Dad started working here from the time he left school, and I started working in the business from the time I could walk. We have always been adaptable: Dad saw an opening for lighting products in the Irish market in the early ’80s and he created lighting in hotels, pubs and restaurants throughout the ’80s, ’90s and into the 2000s. My brother, also Willie, saw a gap in the market and an opportunity to bring the business a step further into the field of lighting design, which is now central to what we can offer.
Three of the family work in our business: my brother Willie, my sister, Helena and I. My mother Ellen is also involved, being our sounding board. Our office is an open forum, where everyone has a voice and each member of our team makes us who we are.
I remember when I was a kid and Dad would point out light and dark, and how it can affect how you feel. Walk down any road on a dark evening, and you will feel uneasy. But have this properly lit and the feeling is completely different. This is where lighting design comes into its element. It can change how you feel, how you look at a space, how you interact with it.
Lighting gives us such an amazing medium to create. To design really amazing spaces, use light, paint with it. Design is not just about aesthetics though, it is also about technology and there have been immense advances over the last 15 to 20 years, from the old halogen to LED and moving toward OLED lighting.
Lighting design is not just for big clients. Some of the nicest projects we have done are modest residences. It doesn’t have to cost the earth either. It is about creativity; do you really just have to use downlights centred in your ceiling or can I do a light and dark effect using these same downlights in a different way? A little bit of thinking outside the box can create something you never expected.