About Bear Essentials Ireland
Bear Essentials was formally established in the year 2000. After an initial period working from a limited space out of our private residence the lean-to greenhouse was converted into a showroom. It is to this day the home of Bear Essentials Teddy Bear Gifts, residence of hundreds of cuddly and furry Teddies and soft toy animals.
A magical open plan, high roofed building is the adjacent Silver Bear Centre with a capacity to sit up to 70 guests for selected events. It is for hire as well and is the base for the extremely busy Teddy Bear Hospital. It caters for organised events by the local Cavan County Council, for School Tours and private parties. The Silver Bear Centre also showcases old and famous Teddy Bears, Irish artefacts, and is home to the many bears who stay with us in the Teddy Bear Hospital. It also has a dedicated website where you can book for different Build a Bear Workshops.
We believe our place is quite special and our ethos is to reach out to every person and make your time here with us a happy and memorable experience !
Bear Essentials Journey
How did we arrive at this point in time? We both, Anke and Nico immigrated in 1984 from Hamburg in Germany to Bawnboy in West Cavan. In search of a mortgage free, alternative lifestyle we found an old derelict Farmhouse with potential. It was possible in the 80 to purchase an old house with land for relatively little money by todays standards. Over many years most spare income went into upgrading and creating our own desired homestead.
We loved the open Irish countryside of West Cavan with it’s so beautiful green environment and it’s friendly people! Influenced by very deep and memorable experiences of a year’s trip to Canada and the USA we left with a desire to grow our own food and treat Mother Nature with the respect she deserves.
Organic gardening, beekeeping, herbal applications, cheese and wine making, tree planting small scale animal husbandry and eco friendly greenhouse culture were all part of our steep learning curve and a changed outlook on life. Money isn’t everything but integrity and honesty amounts to a more lasting future. Environmental consciousness is now part of our school tour days.
The biggest impression in our minds was left by a nightly visit of a black bear at our tent on Vancouver Island BC we’ll never forget. This lifetime experience and the German history of our own childhood, growing up with the now famous Steiff teddy bear company are surely milestones in Bear Essentials genesis. The passion about Wild Bears and Teddy Bears is definitely rooted here! We dearly like to share this love with you our customers and visitors.
Our Love For Nature
Over the years many more product lines have been added to our shop and on-line shop.
But the core of Bear Essentials still remains our own distinct, Irish, hand-crafted, natural mohair bears. Fully jointed in beautiful earthy colours, all of the mohair bears are one of a kind. They are sought after by collectors and customers looking for that something special!
The grounds and gardens of Bear Essentials and the Silver Bear Centre were created with a conscious decision to have a low impact on the natural environment. That is why we plant new trees and shrubs every year, encourage wildlife with providing shelter and feeding in Winter. We will not use herbicides or pesticides nor artificial fertilisers in our gardens. The green houses, the fish pond the back garden and the small fairy forest all create small little micro habitats for a wide range of mammals, birds and insects. Nest boxes for birds and a squirrel house are only some of our recent projects. You can look at cute images of our resident squirrels on our blog.
What next at Bear Essentials Ireland
Looking forward Bear Essentials has still a lot ambition for you and ourselves. We are really looking forward to see our customers again after the long spell of forced Covid closure. Bear Essentials will always be on the lookout for new, better and more environmentally products for our customers. The focus over the last two years has been the continuous optimisation of our websites to be more customer friendly. This task will remain on an ongoing basis for the future. One of the great things you can expect when you contact or deal with us is our welcoming and very personal approach from us to your needs. Bear Essentials will do its best every time, all the time to help you! Delivering Teddy Bears from our Family to your Family, enriching lives and creating lifelong memories is our ultimate goal since 2000.
Bear Essentials is passionate about bears and we would like to share this passion with you. We are dedicated to preserving crafts, heritage and our natural environment and to empower people to embrace them. Our aim is to make people feel special and ensure they enjoy a memorable experience when they visit us. A visit to Bear Essentials Teddy Bear Shop & Silver Bear Centre is free. While you are here you can visit our little playground and do our little Fairy Forest Walk.
Workshops and attendance at events always have to be booked in advance. We are looking forward meeting you.
