David's grandchildren Eleanor & John Patrick Hanna are at the head of the business - steering it towards the future using the skills of the past.

Tell us about Hanna Hats.

Hanna Hats are a third-generation family business, specialising in luxury handcrafted headwear and accessories made from the finest tweed, linen and cotton from Ireland and throughout Europe. We offer a large selection of tweed hats, tweed caps, linen caps and tweed accessories in our collection. We offer a wide choice of styles including flat caps, newsboy caps, baseball caps, walking hats, duckbill caps, skipper caps and many more.

Eleanor, you manage wholesale and tours at the business - tell us a bit about yourself.

I went with my dad to tradeshows like Showcase from a young age. Dad insisted my first role in Hanna Hats was as a machinist, learning how our bestselling styles were made. Dad knew this was the best way for me to get to know the products and learn how each of them were made. Gaining that knowledge meant that if customers at trade shows requested different styles to be made, I knew if it was possible or not. After working in an entirely different industry and living down the country for a few years, I moved back to Donegal in 2010. Today, I manage the wholesale and tour side of the business, while my brother John Patrick manages our online business.

Where do you get your inspiration?

We get our inspiration from different places - for example, the beautiful landscape that surrounds us in Donegal inspires the colours and textures of the materials we look for. In terms of styles of hats, we keep many of our bestselling styles, but we always like to keep an eye on the catwalks to see what is trending. We're also always inspired by our heritage, what our father and grandfather designed and looking at new ways of interpreting those designs. 

What are your brand values at Hanna Hats?

Our brand values are centred around our passion for designing and handcrafting our products here in Donegal Town, Ireland. We're so proud to continue to make our products where our grandfather started the business. Quality and consistency are at the core of what we do. We want to provide our customers with high-quality, long-lasting products. 

What do you like most about what you do?

Every day is different - which is brilliant. I personally love meeting new people, whether that’s buyers at shows or customer who come into our shop. Myself, John Patrick and our team are passionate about what we do and we’re so proud to continue our father and grandfather’s legacy. 

Is this your first time exhibiting at Showcase Ireland?

No, it’s not, we didn't attend for a few years but returned last year. Other than those few years, we have attended almost every year since the very first Showcase. 

If not, what advice would you give to first time exhibitors?

Be confident with your pricing, and make sure you can deliver within the lead times you give the buyers - this shows they can trust and depend on you to deliver when you say you will. Do your best to understand, and have processes in place, for the current tariffs, especially with regards to the USA. Trust the process, it will take a few years for people to get to know your brand. 

Where is the brand currently stocked?

We are fortunate to have a variety of stockists across Ireland, Europe and North America - some of them include Aran Woollen Mills here in Ireland, Notre Dame in the USA and The Scottish & Irish Shop in Canada. 

Is sustainability an important aspect of your business?

Yes, sustainability is an important part of our business. We try to source as many of our materials as locally as we can. We bought a laser cutting machine in 2022 which helps when we create bulk cuts for bigger customers as you get the most out of the cloth and reduce waste. We use some of our offcuts to create certain cap designs such as our Erin Cap in Patchwork Tweed. We also send other offcuts to local schools for arts and crafts. There is still, of course, room for us to learn more and implement more processes to make operating our business more sustainable.

What's new for Showcase 2026? 

We will return to Showcase 2026 with our classic, timeless styles in a variety of tweeds and linens and look forward to meeting new and current stockists at the show next January.

Find Hanna Hats at Stand C88 in the DCCI Area.