The village of Monasterevin in the county of Kildare is the home of West End Knitwear®. The company was originally established by Molly Cullen in 1957. Molly's dream was to incorporate a family knitting business whose heritage stretched back for over 100 years. Molly is the granddaughter of Kate O'Shea, who, in 1856, was the first craftswoman in Ireland to commercially market her robust, hand knitted woolens. Molly's sons John and Paul along with her grandson Niall are the present owners of the company, all involved are naturally proud of the long knitting tradition in the Cullen family.

That's the story of how West End Knitwear began. Today, it is the biggest knitwear manufacturer in Ireland and the largest Aran sweater and jacket producer in the world and takes pride in being the first company to manufacture garments which were originally designed for those engaged in a rugged, outdoor life. Some of these garments have been adapted for modern worldwide markets and are worn by men and women with pride and pleasure. All Aran Craft garments are knitted using the highest quality merino wool, or pure new wool.