In short
- The catalogue has one agency in Limerick: Holman Lee Agency, founded by Celia Holman Lee.
- It has women's, men's and talent boards, does catwalk work and produces fashion shows.
- The country's largest market is Dublin, with 12 catalogue agencies.
Holman Lee Agency
Limerick is the largest city of Ireland's Mid-West, on the River Shannon. Of the 19 Irish agencies in our catalogue, one is here. Ireland has neither a licence written for model agencies nor an association of them, so the catalogue lists every business that represents models. We do not vouch for them, and each profile shows what we found, good and bad: fees charged to applicants, courses, the company's status in the register and press reports.
Holman Lee Agency was founded by Celia Holman Lee when she was 22; she now runs it together with her daughter-in-law Asta Lee. The city's website, Limerick.ie, calls it the longest-running modelling agency in the country and a family business, and the archive of the public broadcaster RTÉ has a 1985 television report about it. We found no founding year on the agency's website, so the catalogue gives none.
The agency says it scouts its models itself and that it does catwalk work, produces fashion shows and works for bridal fashion and television. We found no office address on its website and did not find it in the company register data. The website says nothing about fees for applicants, so before you apply, ask whether the agency charges for photos or training. In the catalogue it is listed on the pages women, men and talent.
Other markets
- Dublin has 12 of the 19 catalogue agencies and hosts part of Ireland Fashion Week.
- Kinvara has Catwalk Model Agency in County Galway, which works for the fashion and bridal markets.
- Killarney has Upfront Model Management, with fashion and commercial models.
How to get started
- Take simple digitals in daylight and write down accurate measurements.
- Check on the agency's profile what we found about it, and ask about fees for applicants before you meet.
- Before you sign, ask for the contract in writing and look in it for the commission, the length of the exclusivity and the payment term. No law or association sets the commission in Ireland.
- Be wary of people who write in an agency's name from personal accounts and of pressure to pay at once: these are signs of a modeling scam.
- The licence, commission, tax, the PPS number and the rules for minors are covered in the guide Modeling agencies in Ireland.