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Little Gem Puppets

"Maggie" Onstage

The Mall, Castlebar

CRAFTed

Puppets come to life for the creative schools award

The Three Little Pigs

Three pigs ready for action

Little Gem Puppets

Experimenting with Shadow Puppets

Northwest Summer Camp

Little Gem Puppets

At Little Gem Puppets we provide fun, family friendly puppet shows for children, workshops in puppetry for all age groups, training for Early Years care providers and we can work as Gaeilge. We also produce high quality puppets for film and theatre. Find the magic!


Based in rural east Mayo Little Gem Puppets are in a prime location to travel nationwide…and they do. From Derry to Cork and everywhere in between we perform for children’s arts festivals, libraries, schools, summer festivals, Irish language events and much more. With years of experience in Community Arts and also working hand in hand with Education we have provided workshops in puppet making and puppeteering to everyone from parent and toddler groups to multicultural women’s groups, schools, children’s events, adult education and large public workshops. Currently on the Design and Crafts Council’s CRAFTed panel and part of the Dept of Education’s initiative the Artist/Teacher partnership we are very much on the pulse of the current thinking on arts in education.

Carmel Balfe, started out by studying visual arts. Soon after graduating she visited the city of Prague and fell in love with the art of puppetry which was to be seen all over the city. Through a series of experience – working as a costume person on films, studying puppet making, working as a puppet maker in New York and producing her own puppet films she brought all her skills together and combined them to found Little Gem Puppets.

Puppets, being a visual art form, can lend themselves to both film and theater. We have made short recruitment videos for corporate use and created puppets for use as company branding. We have also created live shows as an integral part of the entertainment for outdoor and indoor markets. Why not consider a puppet show for your company or event?

Find the Magic!