Cookstown entrepreneur turns childhood memories into candle collection

A childhood photograph has inspired a Cookstown entrepreneur Alastair Gourley to create Tales of the North, a candle collection rooted in memory, place and personal storytelling.

The idea began in 2025, during a visit to Alastair’s childhood home. Looking at a photograph of himself as a toddler, he began thinking about the people, places and experiences that would shape his life.

“He looked so happy and innocent, oblivious to everything that lay ahead, the things he would enjoy, the things he would endure, the challenges he would face,” said Alastair.

“The people he would love. The places that would stay with him. The laughter, the loss, the quiet moments and the milestones that would shape his life. I wanted to find a way to hold on to them.”

Alastair says familiar fragrances often bring back memories of a person, place or moment. He began writing those memories down, and the notes became the starting point for Tales of the North, which he calls his “scent memory map”.

“It is my scent memory map of home and elsewhere, of people I have loved, landscapes I have stood in and feelings I still carry,” he says. “Tales of the North is my love letter to those feelings, shared in the hope that others will recognise something of their own story within mine.”

The five candles are hand-poured in Northern Ireland. Sperrin draws on the Tyrone landscape and the warmth of home; Fireside recalls the familiarity of a family hearth; Fjord Shore takes inspiration from northern landscapes; For You reflects connection and hope; and Christmas Time captures the anticipation and excitement of the festive season.

Cookstown artist George Gourley’s artwork features on Sperrin and Fireside, giving those candles a visual link to the memories behind them.

“I wanted the artwork to matter as much as the fragrance,” said Alastair. “George has been able to take memories, places and sometimes quite abstract feelings and give them a visual form. That has become an important part of the identity of Tales of the North.”

The collection launched in August 2026, with Penny Farthing in Cookstown as its first retail home. It is now also available at the OM Dark Sky Observatory, The Burnavon in Cookstown and Ebb & Flow in Carnlough.

After a year spent developing the fragrances and wider identity, Alastair said seeing the collection reach customers has been deeply personal.

“From that single childhood photograph grew the idea for a collection shaped by the people, places and moments that remain with us,” he says. “Now I hope someone will see one of the images, light one of the candles and find themselves taken back to a place, a person or a feeling of their own.”

Further candles and stories from the collection are expected in 2027.