Behind the Scent: Irish Inspiration in Every Candle

TL;DR

• Every Tenfire fragrance is rooted in memory and place, not trends.
• Ireland’s landscapes, folklore, and family homes inspire our scents.
• Turf, Whitethorn, Wild Gorse, and The Oaks are stories in candle form.

Why Scent Memory Matters

Of all the senses, scent is the most emotionally charged. One whiff of smoke, salt air, or a flower you haven’t smelled since childhood – and you’re transported.

That’s why fragrance is at the centre of Tenfire. It’s not about what’s fashionable. It’s about what feels real.

Our scents are designed to stir memory. To bring Ireland into your home – not as a symbol, but as something you can actually smell. Something your body recognises, even if you’ve never been there.

Because Ireland isn’t just a place. It’s a feeling. And scent is the fastest way to find your way back to it.

Ireland as a Source of Fragrance

When we create a new scent, we don’t look to perfume trends. We look to the land.

The Irish landscape is full of story – from wild hedgerows and damp woodlands to soft bogs and salt-licked hills. But more than that, it’s full of scent.

There’s a rawness to the air here. A softness in the light. A kind of quiet that leaves room for memory. That’s what we try to bottle – without overcomplicating it.

Each Tenfire fragrance starts with a sense of place. The smell of something familiar. The feeling of something you want to carry home.

Turf: The Heart of the Hearth

If there’s one scent that defines the soul of Ireland, it’s turf – or peat.

It’s the smell of the fire that never went out. Of boots by the hearth. Of coats steaming dry. Of stories told over tea while the rain whispered against the roof.

Our Turf candle is made with a smoky essential oil blend. It burns slowly, with a deep, earthy aroma that doesn’t just smell like turf – it feels like it. Close, grounding, familiar.

It’s a scent that connects generations. And for many of our customers, especially those abroad, it brings them straight back to a grandparent’s cottage or a childhood visit to the west.

It’s not a scent we invented – it’s one we honour.

Whitethorn: A Hedge in Bloom

Whitethorn – also known as hawthorn – is one of Ireland’s most quietly powerful plants.

It’s a marker of May. Of the shift between spring and summer. Of hedgerows thick with blossom and bees, often growing wild and unbothered in the countryside.

There’s folklore attached to it too. Whitethorn trees were said to be protected by the fairies – not to be disturbed, not to be moved. They’re part of the deeper rhythm of the land.

Our Whitethorn fragrance is soft, floral, and just slightly green. It’s not sugary or overly feminine. It’s delicate in a way that feels nostalgic. Like opening a window in a country kitchen and smelling the hedgerow beyond the sill.

It’s a scent people don’t expect – until they smell it. Then it becomes the one they remember.

Wild Gorse: Sweetness on the Wind

Gorse is wild by nature. It grows where it wants – blazing yellow against grey skies, filling the air with a smell that’s oddly tropical: coconut, vanilla, sun-warmed sweetness.

To me, Wild Gorse is the scent of contrast. The softness of the bloom against the scratch of its thorns. The brightness of yellow flowers against the green moor. Sweetness, but with backbone.

That’s why the candle is never cloying. It has that familiar sweetness, but it’s grounded. It holds the wildness, too.

It’s the kind of scent that makes people pause. Especially in the middle of winter. It reminds them that brighter days always return.

The Oaks: Family, Memory, and Place

The Oaks isn’t just a scent – it’s a place. And for my husband, it’s home.

His family house, nestled in the Irish countryside, is called The Oaks – surrounded by old trees and a sense of stillness that’s hard to describe. It’s not just a house. It’s a place that holds memory. The sound of the floorboards. The smell of the wood. The way the light shifts in the late afternoon.

When I was creating this fragrance, I didn’t want it to be too floral or too green. I wanted it to feel like time. The warmth of old books. The faint trace of fires past. That particular stillness you only get in a home that’s been lived in for generations.

The Oaks is a tribute to that – and to every place that holds a piece of your story.

Why We Don’t Follow Trends

There’s nothing wrong with a pretty scent. But at Tenfire, we want our fragrances to mean something.

We don’t follow seasonal trends or replicate whatever’s popular on the shelves. Instead, we ask: what smells like home? What feels like Ireland, even if you’ve never stood on its soil?

We work slowly. We test everything ourselves. And if a scent doesn’t feel emotionally resonant, we don’t release it – even if it smells “nice.”

Because for us, nice isn’t enough. We want true.

Final Thoughts

When people ask me what inspires our scents, the answer is always the same – Ireland. Not the postcard version, but the real one. The muddy one. The wind-blown one. The one full of memory and story and silence and scent.

That’s what I try to share through Tenfire. And if one of our candles makes you pause – makes you remember, or imagine – then it’s doing its job.

— Dawn