Buy Irish 2023: 41 fitness and health businesses

As part of our series on how to ‘buy Irish’ online for Christmas 2023, here are 40 Irish fitness and health businesses to check out for festive gift ideas.

In this series we will be looking at Irish food, drinks, fashion, beauty, toys, books and fitness and health gifts that can be bought online as well as offline for Christmas 2023.

With an estimated 70pc of online shopping purchases made overseas, it is vital we support Irish SMEs.

501 Darts Ireland

501 Darts Ireland is your one stop shop for all thing’s darts. Based in Trim in Co Meath, 501 is Ireland’s largest dart and flight online retailer.

Aura Leisure

Give your loved ones the gift of health this Christmas with Aura gift cards. Purchase one at your nearest Aura Leisure centre.

Cycle SuperStore 

Cycle SuperStore began its story in 1982 when Ray Fearon set up Rays Bike shop in Rathgar, carrying out repairs and trading in used bicycles. Today, Cycle SuperStore resides at The Frameworks Building on Airton Road Tallaght, where it delivers an unrivalled cycle shopping experience.

Derval.ie

Former sprint hurdles athlete and Olympian Derval O’Rourke is the founder of the Derval.ie healthy lifestyle platform for practical advice about food, fitness and wellness. The platform also features a store that sells everything from fitness equipment such as yoga mats to active wear, vitamins and homeware.

Dr Coy’s Health Foods

Founded by brother and sister Alison Stroh and Aaron O’Donoghue, the siblings saw a gap for a truly healthy snack. Alison’s research showed that snacking is where we slip up in trying for better nutrition.

In 2012 Alison approached Dr Johannes Coy, an award-winning German oncologist, to propose offering chocolate with certified health benefits to the market. After Aaron, a national cycling champion, temporarily ended up in a wheelchair following a cycling accident, Alison recruited him to assist in building the business.

Now with a range of product lines the company is using rare low glycemic sugars in the reinvented chocolate. As they say on their website: “For the first time chocolate could give you sustained energy without the sugar spike.”

The company has been supported on its journey by Enterprise Ireland and participated on the New Frontiers programme, the SuperValu Food Academy programme and the Foodworks programme.

Ed Sports

Ed Sports is Ireland’s leading hockey and cricket store with two units in Dublin. The company stock all the leading brands and provide the most comprehensive range of cricket and hockey equipment available to buy in Ireland.

Elivar

Elivar develops sports nutrition products exclusively for middle-aged endurance athletes. It helps in improving their performance while providing longer term health benefits that support their continued participation in sport.

 

Elverys Sports 

Founded in 1847, Elverys is Ireland’s oldest sports store and offers equipment and sportswear for Gaelic games, soccer, golf, rugby, basketball and other sports. It also stocks exercise equipment such as treadmills and walkers. There are more than 50 Elverys stores across Ireland.

FizFit

Dublin start-up Fizfit has launched into the Irish and UK markets with a range of products to encourage fitness as well as aid injury or post-workout recovery. The Fizfit site hosts a wide range of premium physio and fitness products with high quality Fizfit designed products delivered direct to customers’ home or office within two days of purchase.

There are three categories in Fizfit’s product range:

• Physio & Fitness: The Fizfit Elite Fitness range of Yoga Mats, Foam Rollers, Massage Sticks, Massage Trigger Balls, Glute Bands and Resistance Bands.
• Braces & Sleeves: For the Ankle, Knee, Back, Wrist and Elbow
• Fizfit At Home: Memory Foam Orthopaedic Back Cushion and Memory FoamOrthopaedic Neck Pillow

ForeGolf

ForeGolf makes custom-fitted golf clubs that help golfers stay on top of their game. As well as being a TaylorMade performance studio and Mizuno performance centre, ForeGolf also caters for custom-built clubs from brands such as Callaway, Titleist, PING, Cobra, Wilson, PXG and EvnRoll.

Fuji

Fuji’s founders travelled all the way to Japan to bring you back the most premium ceremonial quality Matcha, which has been grown by tea masters with natural organic growing and shaded with correct bamboo covering method. Matcha is high in a catechin called EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate) and is believed to have cancer-fighting effects.

Gardiner Family Apothecary/Elave

Since 1934, when Joseph Gardiner founded the first family apothecary in Ireland, the Gardiner family has been creating skincare products which combine expertise in traditional formulations with the latest dermatological advances. This skincare company, based in Dundalk, Co Louth, manufactures, packages, and produces 100 per cent Irish products.

HidraWear

Suzanne Moloney’s HidraMed Solutions has developed a wound dressing system that supports people with Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS), a debilitating disease of the skin that affects one in 100 people. It causes lesions and wounds to form on delicate areas of the body such as the armpit and groin, but can occur almost anywhere. Traditional dressings require adhesives to stay on, which causes irritation and further skin damage.

HidraMed has developed a technology called HidraWear, which enables quick and easy dressing changes and secure dressing retention.

For her innovation and the promise of her business Moloney was previously chosen as The Irish Times Business Person of the Month, an award run in association with Bank of Ireland.

Inhealth.ie

InHealth.ie is part of the The I Love Shopping Group. The I Love Shopping Group is an independent, Guaranteed Irish-owned e-commerce company since 2009 and offers next working day delivery straight from its warehouse in Bray, Co. Wicklow. Inhealth.ie stocks thousands of products and sells pretty much every fertility, pregnancy and birth, baby essential and baby safety products you might need. 

I-Spy 

I-Spy is an Irish mother-and-daughter line, launched in 2014, that specialises in well-fitting gym gear and activewear made to inspire women to feel confident in themselves.

Jane Darcy

The company, named after Gillian Halpin’s daughter’s middle names, Jane and Darcy, launched in September 2018 and is a luxury home fragrance brand specialising in beautifully scented 100 per cent natural soy wax candles and reed diffusers. “We have a zesty lemongrass and bergamasco candle, and most people don’t know that lemongrass is amazing for any kind of anxiety or depression,” said Gillian.

The Kick Co.

Founded by Mark Kelly and Gerrry McElligott, the Kick Co. has designed the SkillMAster to meet the needs of modern player’s in skills play and performance development across the players full lifespan in sports. They needed an immersive skills system that would challenge them without compromise as they developed rapidly. SkillMaster is in 5,000 homes and is now becoming popular in clubs and schools with the purpose of defining and improving teicnical skills acquisition in ball control, including scoring and passing. SKILLMASTER’ s design eliminates compromise for players and maximises opportunity to increase practice intensity as they develop. Players love the Target Net that adds a layer of visualisation in pass/shot selection accuracy. Exclusively available from The Kick Company. Delivered through out Ireland.

LetsGetChecked

From a start-up eight years ago to one of the fastest growing companies in Ireland, the trajectory of Irish medtech company LetsGetChecked is compelling to watch. The company, which was founded by CEO Peter Foley in 2015, has grown to several hundred employees. LetsGetChecked tests cover general health, men’s health, women’s health, and sexual health, and are available in Ireland and other European countries, as well as nationwide in the United States. By combining health data and diagnostic results, LetsGetChecked provides rich health insights to enable better healthcare decision making.

LifeStyle Sports

Life Style Sports was established in 1979 in Ireland by Quinnsworth, a subsidiary of Associated British Foods, and has 53 stores across the island. It is Ireland’s largest sports retailer stocking sporting goods and sport fashions.

Little Green Growers

Little Green Growers mission is to make it easy for anyone to grow organic food at home, providing growers with certified organic baby plants (plug plants), ready for you to pop in your garden or in a pot. Their Connemara farm produces a curated range of certified organic Irish plants, seeds and supplies to save time and give easy, fast results. All its products are delivered nationwide in zero-waste packaging.

Marine Electrics 

Based in Dun Laoghaire, 300 metres from Ireland’s largest marine and servicing the east coast, Marine Electrics was established for boat owners who demand quality work carried out on time, to the highest standards and to agreed prices. The company offers a wide range of equipment’s for sailors and boat enthusiasts and carries out all work to the highest standards.

Massage Guns Ireland

Founded in Galway by Shane Gaffney, Massage Guns Ireland was the first company to bring massage guns to Ireland and supplies a product that aids with recovery. After tearing his ACL for the third time, Shane set out to design a product that could support his own recovery.

Masita

A family run business from Kells, Co Meath, Masita Ireland makes quality teamwear garments for sports organisations. It manufactures officially-licensed GAA, LGFA and camogie kits as well as soccer, rugby, basketball and athletic jerseys using quality fabrics.

McGuirks Golf 

McGuirks Golf has been supplying the Irish golfing market for the past 50 years and is Ireland’s leading supplier of golf equipment both in-store and online. McGuirks Golf commenced trading in Howth Golf Club in 1967 with John McGuirk PGA Professional, and now has a number of outlets across the country.

McSport 

McSport is Ireland’s leading and most successful independent supplier of sport and fitness equipment. In the last 40 years, McSport has evolved from a small local sports equipment shop to Ireland’s largest online retailer of sports and fitness equipment.

Michael Murphy Sports and Leisure

The former Donegal captain who lifted Sam McGuire in 2012 opened his own sporting goods store Michael Murphy Sports and Leisure in Letterkenny along with fellow All Ireland champion Neil Gallagher. In 2017 Murphy swapped the shop and GAA for Clermont-Ferrand RFC as part of the TV series ‘The Toughest Trade’. As committed sportsmen, Michael and Neil had been buying sports gear all their lives and understand the importance of getting the right advice and the right product for your sports and leisure needs.

The Mobility Shop

Based in Portlaoise, The MobilityShop.ie is Ireland’s online specialist in mobility products offering a great range of mobility tools and equipment such as wheelchairs, grab rails and walking tools to facilitate ease and independence of movement. The company’s aim is to make everyday tasks that bit easier with a wide range of daily living aids.

Mycro Sportsgear

Founded in 1986 Mycro Sportsgear are makers of helmets, hurleys, sliotars, gloves, speed balls, grips and bags.

As well as making one of the most popular hurling helmets in the market, it also makes the Evolution, a hurley stick that has a number of unique features and it is claimed to be stronger and therefore more durable then the ash hurley. The hurleys are manufactured locally in Cork and are proving hugely popular here in Ireland and also internationally!

Narcis’sips

Started in March 2018 by trainee accountant Cathal O’Reilly, Narcis’sips offers a “sustainably focused product, at a sustainable price”. The company offers reusable water bottles from prices as low as €15.

Nua Naturals

Inspired by the raw food, gluten free and vegan ethos, Nua Naturals supplies and produces organic health and superfoods. They have won several awards for their various products which include; cacao, sweeteners, protein powders, superfruits and more. You can buy online now at Nuanaturals.com.

O’Neills

O’Neills was founded in 1918 as a manufacturer of Gaelic footballs and it is now the largest sportswear manufacturing company in Ireland. It is a 100pc Irish-owned company, employing more than700 people in Ireland. It has extensive manufacturing plants in Strabane, Co. Tyrone and Walkinstown Avenue, Dublin.

Peter Flanagan Hurley Maker

Peter Flanagan’s Hurleys are handmade in Knockenduff, Tramore, Co. Waterford, and are used by Hurlers and Camogie Players, all over the country and beyond.

Peter is a qualified carpenter/joiner and had 10 years’ experience in the trade before starting to make Hurleys.
His dream throughout his childhood was to become a Hurley maker, and in 2006 he took the plunge and started his own Hurley making business. The business is 100pc Irish-owned and operated.

Seed Golf 

Selling into more than 30 counties around the world, Carlow based Seed Golf is developing an excellent reputation among amateur golfers. The company, which was started by Australian Dean Klatt, produces quality golf balls that are aimed at amateur golfers at half the price of its competitors.

The Sleep Care Company

Disrupted sleep has been a feature of the past eighteen months and for many a good night’s sleep continues to evade us. Enter the luxurious The Sleep Journal, (RRP €30), full of sleep affirmations, a sleep tracker, space for daily gratitude (did you know that recalling positive experiences in the evening improves sleep duration, quality, and daytime functioning?) and evidence-based sleep techniques based on academic research by some of the world’s top sleep experts.

The Sleep Care Company is a sleep wellness company offering a range of luxury sleep solutions, from The Sleep Journal to silk pillowcases to cashmere bed socks, diffusers, pyjamas, sheepskin slippers and sleep wellness experiences such as mindfulness meditations, sleep retreats and sleep workshops. After struggling with sleep, during the pandemic while looking for solutions, founder Anne Marie Boyhan realised that there was nowhere where everything sleep-related was to be found in one place and researched and wrote The Sleep Journal, a guided evidence-based wellness journal. The pandemic put into focus that our health is our wealth and this is why she is passionate about sharing the gift of sleep with others. For more information see www.thesleepcarecompany.com

Sona

Sona has over 35 years’ experience in formulating quality vitamins, nutritional supplements and other health aids. All Sona products are produced in a state-of-the-art facility in Dublin using the highest quality, natural ingredients, with an unyielding commitment to quality. The company is GMP licensed by the HPRA (Health Products Regulatory Authority – ex Irish Medicines Board) and is the oldest established producer of nutritional supplements and herbal remedies in Ireland.

Sundrift

Cork woman Fiona Parfrey founded Sundrift in response to female backpackers consistently noticing that most backpacks are designed for men’s bodies. She set about designing her own bags after complaints from women during a five-months trip across Africa and Asia.

Surfdock   

Established in 1991, Surfdock is Dublin’s original surf shop and is now a second-generation family-run business. It sells wetsuits, changing robes and equipment for surfing, windsurfing, paddle boarding, open-water swimming and more.

Tara Hill Honey

Raw honey has a huge number of health benefits, as it is rich in nutrients, enzymes, vitamins and antioxidents that boost your immune system. Tara Hill Honey is a great local provider, with all honey produced on the slopes of Tara Hill. This honey is available from a variety of independent health food stores.

Torpey Hurleys

For decades Torpey Hurleys have been the choice of hurling champions. Whether taking to the field for your first match, securing your first win, to the ultimate prize of winning the All-Ireland Championship, Torpey products including its Bambú range of hurleys, have performed consistently at all levels of the GAA.

West Ireland Cycling 

This is a family-run Galway bike shop that has been serving the biking needs of Galway and beyond for generations. From bikes and accessories to rentals and cycling holidays.

Woodies

Spread joy and love with Woodie’s range of gifts this Christmas season! Whether it’s for a DIY enthusiast or the gardener in your life, you’ll find the perfect match at Woodie’s among the unique gifting category breakdown on their website.

Main image at top: Photo by Fitsum Admasu on Unsplash